A 26-year-old police officer from New Orleans tragically passed away following a Brazilian butt lift procedure, a cosmetic surgery she underwent in Miami. Wildelis Rosa, who also served as a US Army Reservist recently returned from deployment in Kuwait, did not inform her family about her decision to have the surgery, according to her older sister, Anamin Vazquez.
Rosa had her pre-operative blood work done at the Prestige Plastic Surgery Clinic in South Florida on March 19. The next day, surgeons removed fat from 12 different areas of her body and injected it into her buttocks. The cost of the procedure, as indicated by an invoice, was $7,495, a price that falls within the typical range for this type of surgery in the US, which is between $6,000 and $18,000.
After the surgery, Rosa was recuperating at a short-term rental and informed her family about the procedure three days later. However, Vazquez revealed that the family had an uneasy feeling about Rosa’s wellbeing. Attempts to reach Rosa were unsuccessful, and the following morning, on March 23, a friend staying with Rosa found her unresponsive after she collapsed in the bathroom. Despite immediate attempts at CPR, Rosa had already passed away.
The Miami-Dade medical examiner determined the cause of death to be a pulmonary embolism resulting from blood clots associated with the cosmetic surgery. Rosa’s friend reported to the medical examiner that Rosa had complained of severe pain during a follow-up appointment the day after her surgery. She also had difficulty breathing, and her blood pressure had been dropping significantly. The friend also noted that Rosa appeared pale, had dilated pupils, purple lips, and reported a lack of feeling in her legs and feet the day before her death.
Rosa’s sister, Vazquez, shared that Rosa had texted another friend the night before her death, expressing concerns about her blood pressure and circulation issues in her feet. Vazquez believes that if these warning signs had been addressed, Rosa might still be alive. She expressed her grief over the loss of her youngest sister, who had aspirations of working for the FBI.
Rosa’s death is one of several linked to cosmetic surgeries in Miami. The Miami-Dade Medical Examiner’s Office has certified 25 deaths due to complications with cosmetic procedures involving various doctors and clinics over the past three and a half years.
Brazilian butt lifts have been popular since the 1960s, but their popularity surged in the 2010s, largely due to social media trends and celebrity influence. Despite its popularity, the procedure has one of the highest mortality rates, with approximately 1 in 15,000 patients dying since safety guidelines were strictly enforced in 2019.