A 33-year-old Australian mother who traveled overseas for cosmetic surgery is fighting for her life after suffering severe and rare complications that left her in intensive care in Vietnam.
Chloe Mowday, a mother of three from Perth, underwent a rhinoplasty and blepharoplasty—cosmetic procedures on the nose and eyelids—while vacationing in Da Nang, Vietnam, about a month ago. What was scheduled as routine “day surgery” has since escalated into a medical crisis involving sepsis, toxic shock syndrome, and a serious bacterial infection.
According to her brother, Rod Mowday, Chloe was traveling with her husband, Josh, and their youngest son, Elijah, when she booked the procedures with a local plastic surgeon. After a brief recovery period, she was discharged and returned to her hotel. Shortly afterward, her condition rapidly deteriorated.
“From then, she just went downhill and started to feel strange,” Rod told PEOPLE. He said Chloe began struggling to breathe and was later diagnosed with sepsis and toxic shock syndrome. While being rushed to hospital, she went into cardiac arrest and briefly died before doctors were able to resuscitate her.
Medical staff placed Chloe in an induced coma as her condition worsened. Her blood pressure dropped dangerously low, causing her hands and feet to turn black due to poor circulation. Doctors have since identified necrotic tissue and a so-called “flesh-eating” bacterial infection around the surgical site, where blood flow had been restricted.
Chloe remains in the intensive care unit on life support in Vietnam. Although she has regained consciousness and is aware of her surroundings, her condition remains critical. She is currently unable to speak or move her legs and communicates only by moving her eyes, according to her brother.
As medical expenses continue to mount, Chloe’s family has launched a GoFundMe campaign to raise funds for treatment and a medically supervised air ambulance to return her to Australia. Rod said arrangements have already been made for an ICU bed in Perth once she is cleared to travel, though the eight-hour direct flight is considered high risk given her fragile condition.
The family is also cooperating with Vietnamese authorities as part of an investigation into the plastic surgeon who performed the procedures. Josh has spent hours meeting with local police, Rod said, though the family has declined to comment further while the investigation is ongoing.
Josh and Elijah remain in Vietnam by Chloe’s side. “They went over as a family and they’ll come home as a family,” Rod said. While the road to recovery is expected to be long and uncertain, the family’s immediate hope is to bring Chloe home safely for continued treatment.
“She has a very long road ahead,” Rod added.
