A YORK mum who has the breast implants at the centre of a global health scandal has been rushed to hospital after becoming seriously ill.

Jacqueline Anderson, 41, of Clifton Moor, was taken to York Hospital last week after she sufferred swelling and intense pain in one breast and was unable to lift her arm.

She was kept in overnight and has been prescribed painkillers while she awaits an operation to remove the implants, made by Poly Implant Prothese (PIP).

Miss Anderson said her health problems – including four septic infections, exhaustion, thyroid problems, pins and needles and mouth ulcers – started when she received the PIP implants eight years ago.

Speaking about her hospital stay, she said: “The pain started in my breast. It was like somebody put a blow torch on me and it swelled up. I could not lift my arms because of the pain. It’s made me really unwell. The doctor said it’s not going to get any better until the implants are out.”

Miss Anderson said she had experienced problems with the implants – put in by Transform Cosmetic Surgery – almost immediately. As the clinic is not providing routine removal, she is now waiting to have the implants removed on the NHS and will pay for them to be replaced.

Miss Anderson, who decided to get implants to boost her confidence after having four children, has set up the Yorkshire PIP Implant Group, a support group for local women, which now has 60 members.

She said a major concern of many of them is their appearance following the operation to remove the implants.

“Some women will be left deformed. They are scared. They have paid all this money but they have flushed their money down the drain.”

Across the UK, around 40,000 women received the implants, manufactured by now-closed French company PIP which were filled with non-medical grade silicone intended for use in mattresses. The UK Government has said anxious women given PIP breast implants on the NHS will be able to have them removed and replaced for free, and has put pressure on private firms to look after their patients.