BRAZILIAN bum lifts are a crisis waiting to happen – tragic mum Alice Webb maybe the first UK victim but her death is the tip of a very grim iceberg, the Sun can reveal.
The mum-of-five, 33, was having the cosmetic treatment at a studio in Gloucester on Monday evening when it “went wrong” and she died in hospital the following day.
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Police later confirmed two people had been arrested on suspicion of manslaughter over the horror.
In the past few years at least 28 Brits have died abroad — seven in Turkey — after complications from BBLs.
But there are plenty more who have undergone the procedure in Britain with disastrous consequences.
Plastic surgery campaign group Save Face said, in a report, 479 patients have complained to them about botched BBLs and hip dips – all undertaken by non-healthcare cowboy practitioners – since 2022.
READ MORE ABOUT BUM LIFTS
Reported complications included infection, sepsis, abcess, necrosis, cellulitis, migration and nodules.
Have you been the victim of a botched Brazilian bum lift? Email [email protected]
A total of 98 percent of complainants were then treated by NHS services.
The main complaint hot spots are Glasgow, Newcastle, Belfast, Liverpool, Birmingham, Manchester, Essex and Doncaster.
Save Face first confirmed Alice’s death.
Bum lifts can be surgical, which involves a fat transfer – but what is becoming increasingly popular is non-surgical lifts, including using dermal fillers.
Bonnie-Louise Cooper was rushed to hospital while suffering hallucinations and a skyrocketing temperature after having filler injected into her bum in the UK.
Just 36 hours earlier the hair beautician from Swanage had spent £1,500 on a 30 minute ‘lunchtime liquid BBL’ before contracting sepsis.
She is lucky to have survived.
‘DEVASTATED’
Ashton Collins, the director of Save Face, told The Sun: “I am devastated to hear of Alice’s tragic passing.
“We launched a campaign in December 2023 calling upon the Government to take urgent action to ban these procedures.
“We made it absolutely clear, that without urgent intervention someone would die.”
He said news of Alice’s death makes him “incredibly sad and angry”, adding: “Our fear has been confirmed and a family has been shattered.”
Mr Collins went on to say, liquid BBL procedures – in which filler is injected into the bum – are a “crisis waiting to happen”.
“They are advertised on social media as ‘risk-free’, ‘cheaper’ alternatives to the surgical counterpart and that could not be further from the truth.
What are Brazilian Bum Lifts and why are they so popular?
Buttock enlargement surgery – known as a Brazilian bum-lift (BBL) – is used to make the bum look bigger, rounded and lifted.
Surgeons transfer fat, inject filler or insert silicone-filled implants.
It is the fastest growing cosmetic procedure but also one of the most dangerous, according to the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (BAAPS).
Many patients are travelling to the likes of Turkey or seeking out unregistered surgeons in the UK and are not given full information on the risks.
BBLs carry the highest risk of all cosmetic surgeries – with more than one death occurring per 4,000 procedures.
Due to celebrities undergoing such ops, many women are hoping to emulate their looks.
Consultant clinical psychologist Dr Anu Sayal-Bennett, a chartered member of the British Psychological Society, told the BBC: “Despite there being so much about body positivity, there are pressures for women – and men too – to look a certain way.”
Many people travel abroad for the procedure because it is cheaper and advertising is “terribly seductive”, combined with the idea of a beach holiday, added Dr Sayal-Bennett.
“We have supported over 500 women who have suffered complications because of these treatments, many of which have nearly died.
“Over 50% of the cases reported to us contracted sepsis and 39% needed corrective surgery.”
Mr Collins said all the procedures reported to the group were carried out by “non-healthcare practitioners” and are “incredibly dangerous” practices in “unsterile” environments.
“They were unable to identify and manage the complications they inflicted upon their clients, often misdiagnosing abscesses, and tissue necrosis as bruising.
“I am flabbergasted and appalled by the unscrupulous nature of the people who are still offering these treatments even though they know some of their patients have been hospitalised and will no doubt continue to do so after hearing this awful news.”
He added that it is “outrageous” for unqualified people to feel it is appropriate to offer treatments that “surgeons will not perform because they are too dangerous”.
“We will not stop campaigning until these procedures are banned and those who cause harm to people are held criminally accountable.”
ALICE’S FINAL HOURS
The night before Alice’s op, the mum posted a photo on Facebook of a small pumpkin – a pre-surgery “present” from her daughter.
The following evening, officers rushed to the studio – in a residential address – at around 11.30pm after the alarm was raised with ambulances already at the scene.
Alice was taken to the Gloucestershire Royal Infirmary but died shortly after in the early hours of Tuesday morning.
‘More must be done to stop rogue injectors’
By Lizzie Parry, Head of Health
IT might sound less invasive, but just because liquid BBLs are ‘non-surgical’ they are no less dangerous.
Any medical procedure comes with risks.
But when those procedures are carried out by any Tom, Dick or Harry with no medical qualification at all, the risks skyrocket.
Campaign-group Save Face has warned of an “alarming increase” in the number of patients complaining of severe complications from liquid BBLs and boob jobs.
The list of nasty complications is long, sepsis, infections and abscesses that require hospital admission and often surgical interventions.
These procedures, often advertised on social media as being ‘risk-free and cheaper alternatives’ to surgery can be lethal.
In every single case of complications reported to Save Face, the ‘practitioner’ had absolutely no healthcare qualifications, not one. It’s terrifying.
These unscrupulous rogue traders, who charge on average around £2,000, are putting people’s lives at risk, while raking in the profits.
Equally as alarming is the fact that most qualified medics say they don’t offer non-surgical BBLs because they are unsafe and come with high risk of complications.
If doctors and nurses aren’t comfortable doing liquid BBLs, it should be reason enough to outlaw them.
Save Face is calling on the Government to crackdown and ban these procedures, warning more people will die if action is not taken.
It’s a crisis waiting to happen, and more must be done to ensure people seeking aesthetic treatments are safe and have access to the best possible care.
Her devastated partner Dane Knight, 38, posted a tribute online saying: “Want to say a heartfelt thank you to all family and friends that were here for us at our time of need, including all of the kind messages sent to my children and myself.
“There was some very beautiful messages sent by some of your children that formed a start of a smile from the corner of my kids mouth.”
Alice, who has five daughters aged between seven and 15, was also involved in the beauty treatment industry as an advanced aesthetic practitioner.
‘DANGEROUS’
A cosmetic surgeon said he would “never touch the BBL procedure with a barge pole” in reaction to Alice’s death.
Dr Kasim Usmani, 32, runs his own clinic in central London, and performs procedures like salmon sperm injections and non-surgical nose jobs.
But he says the BBL surgery is not a safe procedure and should be avoided at all costs.
He also explained how the procedure is carried out – and said it was “inevitable” a death from the procedure would happen in the UK.
Kasim said: “It’s so unfortunate this has happened and it has happened due a to lack of regulation.
“I would never touch this procedure with a barge pole.
“It is devastating that a mother of five kids has lost her life due to this dangerous procedure.”
As well as the procedure being inherently dangerous Kasim says added danger comes from the lack of regulation of the cosmetic procedure in the UK.
“It was an inevitable someone would die from this,” he added.
“We always knew if things were unregulated people would come to harm and that’s exactly what happened.
“We’ve been saying this for years.”
Brits who have died from getting Brazilian bum lifts abroad
Multiple Brits have died after undergoing Brazilian Bum Lifts abroad.
Here are those previously highlighted in The Sun:
Demi Agoglia, 26, passed away days after returning home to Manchester after undergoing the procedure in Turkey.
Family members said she returned to the clinic following the procedure in Istanbul for a check-up but then fell ill.
She was rushed into intensive care but doctors were unable to save her and she was pronounced dead on January 8 this year.
Kaydell Brown, 38, had paid £5,400 for BBL procedure as well as a tummy tuck and a boob job hoping she would change her life.
But the Sheffield mum-of-two tragically died in the recovery room due to complications in her surgery in Istanbul, Turkey.
Leah Cambridge, from Leeds, West Yorks, collapsed shortly after her £3,000 BBL at a Turkish clinic loved by Towie stars, including Lauren Goodger.
The 29-year-old is said to have arranged the surgery through a firm which acts as a go-between linking clients and surgeons.
Wakefield Coroner’s Court was told how she travelled to Izmir in August last year to have the “butt lift”, but died following complications in the procedure.
Melissa Kerr, 31, travelled from Norfolk to Istanbul to undergo a £3,200 procedure at Medicana Kadikoy hospital.
Melissa was killed when the injected fat entered a vein and blocked her pulmonary artery causing an embolism.
The young Brit was only given “limited information regarding the risks and mortality rate” associated with the op, her inquest heard.
Abimbola Ajoke Bamgbose, a 38-year-old social worker from Dartford, Kent, died in August 2020 after buying a £5,000 overseas package deal with Mono Cosmetic Surgery.
Her husband Moyosore Olowo told an inquest hearing that his wife underwent liposuction and a butt lift because she was fed up with people asking if she was pregnant.
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