Mum of three says she 'suffered in silence' before discovering her breast implants could be making her ill

Kay Richardson, 41, from Billingham, has spoken out to tell other women that they are not alone in their fight against Breast Implant Illness (BII).

Kay had breast implants 20 years ago while serving in the British Army and was one of 130,000 UK women who had breast augmentation since 2002.

In the years that followed, she suffered numerous illnesses, but the symptoms got worse over the last two years and culminated at Christmas last year when she went for a massage.

The mum, who has children aged five, six and nine, experienced a sharp pain in her right breast and over the next couple of days and following week, she saw her health worsen further.

She then searched online for answers and found an American Facebook group which talked about Breast Implant Illness (BII). The group of more than 100,000 ladies from America and the rest of the world were talking about their illnesses and experiences.

The group also discussed research and reports and Kay realised that the symptoms these ladies so clearly had were the same as hers.

She booked an appointment with a cosmetic surgeon in Yarm who confirmed he believed both her implants had ruptured.

After talking to her husband, Kay elected to have her implants removed and had the surgery yesterday.

She also started a Facebook group to raise awareness of BII for UK women – available at https://www.facebook.com/groups/faketoorganic/

She is also blogging and uploading videos, and said: “I want to raise awareness into BII.

“I had suffered in silence, one thing after another. Another test, another scan and all to no avail. I want to bring attention to BII, to let others know they are not alone, they are not going mad. This silent illness is real. If by showing and telling my story I can help others, that’s all I want.”Kay, a professional semi permanent make-up artist, served with the British Army in the Royal Logistics Corps, serving in Bosnia and Iraq.