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A 29-year-old mother of three died on the operating table during a legal Brazilian butt lift surgery. Leah Cambridge traveled from her home in England to Turkey to receive the procedure at Elite Cosmetic Surgery, a clinic which boasts its Brazilian butt lift as a coveted modification.Ā
The mother is currently being mourned by family and friends, but her death poses serious questions about the safety of the cosmetic butt lift.
Leah Cambridge died during a Brazilian butt lift procedure. The 29-year-old mother of three traveled from Leeds, England, to Turkey to receive the legal surgery.
Cambridge's partner, Scott Franks, shared on Facebook that she died early in the procedure. The cause of death was three heart attacksĀ while on the operating table.
Cambridge received the procedure by Elite Cosmetic Surgery, which shared two statements on Instagram.
"Elite Aftercare is a responsibly run facilitator of access to numerous cosmetic surgical procedures and has been providing this service to the very highest standards since 2015," the statement reads. "Before any cosmetic procedure is performed, each patient is made fully aware of the risks associated with the procedure and fully informed patient consent is always obtained before the commencement of each procedure."
"We are devastated that one of our clients has passed away during surgery. We also understand how worrisome this news is to all our clients who are currently booked in for surgery and also potential new clients ... Rest assured that we are treating this matter with the seriousness and gravity that it deserves."
BuzzFeed News reported earlier this year that 1 in 3,000 patients who receive Brazilian butt lift surgery may die after the procedure. Compared with other cosmetic surgeries, the number is typically 1 in 50,000.
"A majority of people having this operation are doing well," Dr. J. Peter Rubin,Ā a board-certified plastic surgeon and a professor at the University of Pittsburgh, told BuzzFeed News. "On the other side of the spectrum, we find this to be one of the most dangerous cosmetic procedures."
Demands for the procedure have doubled since 2014, with celebrities instigating the trend of a tiny waist and a large booty.
On the flip side, some celebrities and influencers are sharing their bad butt lift experiences to spread awareness about the potential dangers.
"I started a journey to correct a mistake I did over 6 years ago. The first surgery went well so we thought until my body started to shut down while I was on tour. For 26 cities I was on steroids to walk and keep down infection causing me to get off stage and be rushed to ER over 4 times and then the next day back on stage. I later found out the silicone had spread and I would be rushed back into surgery," singer K. Michelle wrote on Instagram.
"The surgery to remove all of this from me lasted a long 6 hours. The following days were spent with paramedics until i they realized my blood count was severely low and I was rushed into ER where I was admitted. 2 blood transfusions later Iāve been released and started therapy today heal and walk," she said.
This year, Instagram fitness blogger Get Bodied By J had to have the silicone injections from her butt lift removed before necrosis occurred.
Cardi B discussed going to a Queens, NY, basement apartment to receive illegal butt injections.
"It was the craziest pain ever. I felt like I was gonna pass out. I felt a little dizzy. And it leaks for, like, five days," Cardi told GQ. When she went back to get more injections, the woman had been arrested because another client of hers had died on the operating table.
Cardi wanted the injections after noticing that other strippers who hard larger bottoms got tipped more money. She went to a doctor who rejected her as a candidate because she didn't have enough fat on her body to transfer to her butt.
According to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, cosmetic surgery has steadily been on the rise for two decades. In 2007, 11.8 million cosmetic procedures were performed in the U.S. Compare that with 2017, when 17.5 million operations were performed.
Ultimately, women cannot be judged for wanting to conform to societal standards that tells them their worth lies solely in their appearance. We have to continue to ask ourselves: Why does it appear as though every woman's default setting is to dislike, or even hate, her body?
