A young New Orleans police officer tragically died days after undergoing a Brazilian butt lift procedure, during which she endured “extreme pain” from the surgery.
Wildelis Rosa, 26, informed her family she was traveling from New Orleans to Miami to celebrate her birthday in March, without revealing her plan to undergo the cosmetic surgery, her older sister, Anamin Vazquez, shared with NBC6.
Rosa, also a US Army Reservist recently returned from deployment in Kuwait, underwent pre-operative blood work at Prestige Plastic Surgery Clinic in South Florida on March 19, and the next day, doctors extracted fat from 12 areas of her body and injected it into her buttocks.
An invoice for her Brazilian butt lift, commonly known as BBL, indicates Rosa paid $7,495 for the cosmetic procedure, which typically costs between $6,000 and $18,000 in the US but is often significantly less expensive in Miami.
However, Vazquez said they immediately felt “in our guts like something is wrong.”
“I texted her and I said, ‘I hope you’re doing okay you’re enjoying your birthday.’ But there was no answer back,” Vazquez said.
The following morning, on March 23, an unidentified friend staying with Rosa found her unresponsive after she collapsed in the bathroom. They promptly performed CPR on her, but she had already passed away.
The Miami-Dade Medical Examiner determined her cause of death as a pulmonary embolism caused by blood clots linked to cosmetic surgery, according to NBC6.
Her friend reported to the medical examiner that Rosa attended a follow-up appointment the day after her surgery, where she reported “extreme pain,” and while at their rental, she experienced breathing difficulties and her blood pressure had been “drastically” dropping.
The day before her death, her friend also observed that she appeared pale, had dilated pupils, her lips appeared purple, and she reported having no feeling in her legs or feet.
Rosa’s devastated sister revealed that Rosa had texted another friend the night before her death, complaining about issues with her blood pressure and circulation in her feet.
Vazquez believes that if these warning signs had been addressed, her younger sister might still be alive.
“It’s that’s the part that we have to live with because it was unnecessary for her to die…to die like that,” she said, noting her sister, the youngest of five siblings, had aspired to work for the FBI one day before her life was tragically cut short.
Rosa’s death is part of a series of fatalities linked to cosmetic surgeries in Miami, according to NBC6.
The Miami-Dade Medical Examiner’s Office has recorded 25 deaths due to complications from cosmetic procedures, involving various doctors and clinics over the past three and a half years.
A Gentle Reminder: Every obstacle is a stepping stone, every morning; a chance to go again, and those little steps take you closer to your dream.
Nnamdi Okoli
