14 DAY TRIAL // Even though experts frequently issue warnings on the dangers of certain DIY beauty procedures, especially if they involve injecting an unknown substance into any part of the body with the purpose to augment it, tragedies still happen for this very reason.
Sonia Perez Llanzon from Argentina was 39 years old and a mother. She died last week after developing a fatal blood clot in her lung after injecting herself with Vaseline in the breasts, the New York Daily News informs, citing reports in the local media.
Details on her tragic case are scarce, but it seems that she performed the procedure on her own, at home. Shortly afterwards, she started having breathing problems and, eventually, she was rushed to the Lucio Molas Hospital in Santa Rosa.
Llanzon had “injuries” on her breasts when the doctors examined her, but she denied she’d done anything to cause them and refused to admit to the DIY procedure. By the time she came clean, it was already too late.
“I've never seen a case like this. The human body has antibodies to remove bacteria and viruses, but it hasn't got any mechanisms against this type of product. Other people using Vaseline like this are putting themselves in danger,” Julia Pla, head of surgery at the hospital, says.
Llanzon leaves behind a 20-year-old son and a terrifying tale of a woman who wanted to attain “perfection” but either could not afford or did not want to pay to have the procedure of breast augmentation done by a certified surgeon.
As horrifying as it is, Llanzon’s case isn’t isolated.
Perhaps the most mediated in recent years is that of Rajee Narinesingh, a transgender woman who, wanting to get the perfect body but not affording the work of a proper surgeon, went to a back alley practitioner who injected her with a compound made of anything from cement to oil and tire sealant.
She had the substance injected in all parts of her body, from the face to her buttocks and breasts, and has been in agony for years because it hardened and the lumps started to move across her body. As of March 2012, Rajee is said to be “on the mend” but only because a board-certified surgeon has been working hard to remove the lumps and restore her to her normal self, as much as possible.
Other women have not been as lucky as her, losing limbs and, as in the case of Llanzon, their life because of DIY procedures or because of back alley “doctors” always ready to capitalize on their desire to “improve” on their natural assets.