She wrote to her GP and said she was suffering depression and anxiety linked to her implants and also told him she had considered taking them out herself.
But a reply letter simply detailed the only ways that surgery could be performed on the NHS in her area – if the implants were ruptured and causing severe pain or if there was capsular contracture, where extreme scarring forms a hard shell around the implant.
So Tonia began to think about doing the job herself. She even mentioned it to one of her daughters, who naturally assumed she was joking.
Tonia said: “When I started thinking about doing it, I googled it.
“There was only one lady who’d tried in America, but she only got one out before she passed out and went to the hospital.
“I was only working part-time and in this country explant is a lot more expensive. I just couldn’t afford it.
“The NHS only do it in really severe circumstances, like if one’s ruptured. You need a really valid reason and you can be on the waiting list for years unless it’s a serious emergency.
“Even if I’d had gone with the NHS I knew it would be a long wait and I’d got it in my mind that I just wanted them out there and then.”
So on Friday, March 16, Tonia decided enough was enough. She went into Skegness and bought a small bottle of Dettol, surgical gloves and a knife from a DIY store.
“At this point I was still thinking “Are you mental?” Tonia insisted.
“I came home and I lay awake at night just thinking ‘I’m going to do this tonight.’
“I was still trying to talk myself out of it. I kept saying to myself ‘Don’t be crazy. You’re not thinking straight.’
“Anyway it got to teatime and I got some ice cubes out of the freezer and put them in a plastic sandwich bag and tied it up like an ice bag.
“I went upstairs, I got the mirror in front of me. I sat there for a while and thought I’d just cut a little bit to see if it hurts.
“I put the ice underneath where the original scar is. I lifted my boob up and held the ice there for five minutes until I couldn’t bear it any longer.
“After a bit I pinched the skin and I couldn’t feel anything. I just got the knife and I did a tiny little incision on the original scar tissue and I couldn’t feel a thing. I thought ‘Oh, this doesn’t hurt. Great!”
Tonia traced the line of her 14-year-old scar, being careful not to go any further so she wouldn’t hit any major veins or arteries.
She then had to cut through fat, scar tissue and began to see lumps of silicone.
“God it was awful. The implant had clearly ruptured,” Tonia said.
“There was all this jelly which was my fatty tissue. It sounds disgusting.
“Then I came to something that looked like a pocket, which I’d read about.
“You get a breast pocket which forms around the implant. I came to that and thought ‘Oh shit, I’ve got to get through this now.
“That took ten minutes to get through but there was still no pain. Seriously I’m not joking, there was no pain. It was unreal.
“And I was looking at myself in the mirror thinking ‘I’m dreaming this. Am I really doing this?’
“Then I saw the implant and that’s when the adrenaline kicked in.
“I got some gauze and I grabbed the implant and that’s when I realised that it was ruptured.
“As I pulled it a chunk of it came off in my hand and that’s when I panicked. I thought ‘Shit, I’ve got to get this out of me now. I have to do this.’
“There was silicone everywhere. As I was pulling it it was just turning to mush.”
Tonia pushed down on her implant – which was fortunately above the muscle – and the whole thing popped out of the hole.
She then took a deep breath and did the same with the left implant, which was intact and came out straight away.
The mum-of-three then put some makeshift dressings under her boobs and put on a bra to keep them in place before driving herself to the Pilgrim Hospital in Boston, Lincs.
Before leaving, she left her husband, who was working a night shift, a note to say she’d had to go to A&E but not to worry.
Shaking, she handed the A&E desk clerk a note detailing what she’d done.
At first they thought she meant she’d removed her contraceptive implant, but doctors couldn’t believe it when she said: “No, my boobs!”
They squirted saline in the ruptured side to remove the silicone and changed her dressings and she was discharged at 1am without stitches as it was thought the scars would simply heal themselves.
She has since had a scan at the Pilgrims Hospital’s breast clinic which shows that none of the silicone is still inside her body. Her scars are healing well.
She says her experience carries a serious message for anyone considering implants.
She said: “I’m not ashamed of what I’ve done. I think it raises awareness of exactly how desperate some ladies can get.
“If I want to say one thing, it’s don’t get implants, ever. I see these adverts on TV for MYA and these girls bouncing around on horses saying ‘I got breast implants and life is great!’
“And I just think ‘You’ll regret it!’ I wouldn’t advise anybody to get them.
“And once you’re desperate to get them out you basically get ‘Well you paid to have them put in, so you should pay to get them out.’
“That’s why I felt that I didn’t really want to go through the NHS because of that stigma attached to it. To be honest I think the NHS should only pay for explants in emergencies.
“I didn’t want to end up costing the NHS loads of money and I just hated them so much I wanted them out there and then.
“I probably saved them thousands. The nurses at the hospital even said that in A&E, trying to lighten the mood.
“Now they’re gone I just love it. I’ll be honest, they don’t look pretty…there’s a lot of saggy skin.
“But I would never have implants again. They were the worst mistake I ever made.”
Plastic surgeon Dr Naveen Cavale, of the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons, said it was possible that previous surgery had affected the nerves at the bottom of Mrs Rossington’s breasts, preventing her from feeling pain.
But he said performing an explant at home was extremely dangerous, with a risk of hitting arteries, infection and excessive bleeding.
He added: “She has been amazingly lucky to get away with it.”
Plastic surgeon Dr Naveen Cavale, of the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (BAAPS), said it was possible that previous surgery had affected the nerves at the bottom of Mrs Rossington’s breasts, preventing her from feeling pain.
But he said performing an explant at home was extremely dangerous, with a risk of hitting arteries, infection and excessive bleeding.
He added: “She has been amazingly lucky to get away with it.”
A spokesman for NHS England said the policy on the removal of breast implants was determined by the relevant clinical commissioning group where the person is based.
