Sasha Dean was proud of her appearance and, as well as regular training sessions to maintain a tight figure, she had fillers and botox to help her retain a youthful complexion – but “the only thing I felt let me down my back,” she says. “I felt that one side was completed while the other was flat.”
After training with a Personal Trainer had not reached the form she wanted, Sasha, 54, for having a liquid Brazilian butt lift (BBL) and a non-surgical procedure where the filler is injected into the buttocks to make it larger, more rounded or lifted.
But it is a decision that she regrets bitterly because the experience almost killed her – and 18 months later she is still not fully recovered.
Sasha, who runs a transport company in Bedfordshire, became a life-threatening reaction to an infection within a few days of a volume-enhancing Jab in her buttocks with sepsis.
Within a few hours after being lit at the hospital, Sasha had a heart attack, a collapsed lung and her kidneys started to fail.
Doctors had to put Sasha in an induced coma while they fought to save her life.
She now speaks to warn that others are considering having the procedure to be aware of what they can leave for.
“If you had told me how dangerous this procedure could be, I would never have agreed – it almost killed me,” says Sasha, who has a son, 26, and a daughter, 23.
Sasha Dean, 54, chose to have a liquid Brazilian butt lift-one non-surgical procedure injected the filler into the buttocks
This week, the Chartered Trading Standards Institute warned that not -trained practitioners changed the market for cosmetic procedures such as butt lifts and botox in a ‘Wild West’ that endangered ‘lives in danger’.
It was said to have discovered that the procedures were offered in public loos and hotel rooms – and warned people to check the qualifications of those who offer cosmetic procedures.
A BBL traditionally includes an operation to take fat from the thighs, hips or belly of a patient – through liposuction – and to inject it into the buttocks to add volume.
It is generally considered to be one of the most dangerous cosmetic procedures by experts because large veins in the buttocks can easily be injured or torn.
Moreover, the fat can be injected into the wrong area by accident, which leads to embolism – a serious complication in which fat blocks blood supply to vital organs, including lungs, heart and brain.
The liquid BBL Sasha had a newer technique in which synthetic filling material – usually hyaluronic acid, the same connection is used to inject lips cosmetically – instead injected into the buttocks.
Because it does not mean operation to remove fat, it is supposedly safer than the conventional BBL. But is it?
Those who undergo a liquid BBL will have to experience some swelling directly afterwards, “says Mo Akhavani, a consultant plastic surgeon at the Royal Free Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and the Plastic Surgery Group Private Clinic, both in London.
‘Liquid BBLS must be completely prohibited. It is praised as a safe “lunch time” procedure, but I am proof that it is about playing Russian roulette with your life, “warns Sasha
This can take up to six months to ‘disappear completely’, but he adds: ‘the real danger’ are potential infections.
“Hyaluronic acid is safe in the lips but more dangerous in the back because of the large volume that is used there,” he says.
‘Moreover, you stuck in an area that is not very clean by nature, so the risk is higher.
“The lips also have an amazing blood supply and therefore fight fairly easily, but the same is not true in the buttock,” adds Mr Akhavani, who also has a private clinic but does not offer BBLs of any kind.
The extra problem is that while BBLS is only performed by doctors, liquid BBLs can essentially be done by someone, without care training or experience.
“Liquid BBLs are often advertised online as a risk -free, cheaper alternative to the surgical BBL, and therefore so many people choose them and suffer life -threatening complications,” says Ashton Collins, director of the charity Save Face, a register approved by the government with trusted practice.
Since 2023, the charity says that it has supported more than 700 women with complications and problems caused by liquid BBLs – and more than half ended up in the hospital with Sepsis.
“All these procedures were carried out by practitioners without medical experience and were unable or unable to manage the complications,” he adds.
The charity is of the opinion that the tragic death of 33-year-old Alice Webb, a mother of five from Gloucestershire who lost her life because of complications that could have been prevented from a liquid BBL last September through stricter regulations about who can offer these services.
Save Face is one of those who are now calling on the government to re -class liquid BBLs as surgical procedures that can only be performed by plastic surgeons.
‘In contrast to the surgical counterparts [i.e. traditional BBLS] Everyone can administer liquid BBLs from any type of institution, although they bear the same degree of risk as their surgical counterparts, “says Ashton Collins.
‘We estimate that thousands of liquid BBLs are performed in the UK annually, usually by non-medical practitioners who are active in non-regulated environments. More lives will be lost without decisive action. ‘
The Royal College of Surgeons of England (RCS England) wants changes in the law, which means that all cosmetic procedures or now is surgical or non-surgical and all injectable treatments such as Botox comprises-all must be performed by qualified surgeons.
“Non-surgical injectables can be dangerous,” says Professor Vivien Read, Senior Vice President at RCS England.
“In the hands of an untrained person, they can bring members of the public with a considerable risk of damage, injury and potential death.”
“Injections carried out by someone untrained can cause tissue damage and serious infection – they can inject items in places that should not be injected, such as blood vessels,” says Mr Akhavani.
This is thought that this happened in the case of Sasha.
When she discovered that the clinic where she had had Botox injections in her face for three years, it was starting to offer liquid BBLs, she was excited. It was invoiced to Sasha as a ‘walk-in’ procedure.
“They said it was safe, much safer than a traditional BBL,” says Sasha. “I felt it was completely reliable.”
“I was not warned about the side effects,” she says.
“In fact, the form of consent was no longer or different than the one I often signed for Botox.”
Sasha had injected three injections of 200 ml of Vuler into her buttocks in the clinic for a period of 20 months from the beginning of 2022. She was cleaned in advance with a sterile liquid and “the whole thing was very professional,” she says.
But she was not satisfied with the result of the treatment – which usually costs around £ 5,000. So her beautician offered her a discount on a fourth procedure – of which she said she could perform at the cost price, £ 1500, in her own house, says Sasha.
“I knew her, trusted her and knew she had a room in her house for appointments – which I had visited before – so I agreed,” she says.
Sasha went for the appointment, with her partner Alan, 47, on December 30, 2023 – “The room was clean with a good surgical bed,” she recalls.
‘It was only during the procedure that I discovered that she shared this space with her mother, a hairdresser, and there was her everywhere. It looked clean, but was not as sterile as I thought. ‘
The procedure was the same as before – “But while I left, I immediately felt cold,” Sasha recalls.
“It was winter, but this was something else. At home I immediately went to bed, still shivering. ‘
The next day was spent in bed, shivering, unable to eat, drink or even pass urine. A day later, Alan found her in bed that still faded in and out of consciousness – so he called 999.
“I remember that paramedics entered my room and heard the word” sepsis ” – then hell that breaks loose,” says Sasha.
She was lightly lit to the hospital where Sepsis was confirmed. There was little doubt that the liquid BBL was blamed.
Sasha was placed in intensive care and her desperate family was warned that she might not survive because her organs failed.
Doctors explained that they had to place her in an induced coma if she had a chance of survival.
“I was in and out of consciousness,” says Sasha. “I remember the look at Alan’s face and my father’s. I knew I was not very good.
‘It sounds strange, but I felt in peace. I am not sure if it was the medicines that overwhelm me, or if this is how it feels when you die. ‘
When she came around after she was unconscious for five days, Sasha was unable to speak in the hospital for five weeks and continued to walk with physiotherapy and with protein -rich drinks to help her regain weight and strength in a coma.
When she was fired in February 2024, “life as I knew it was over,” she says.
“I had lost a stone and muscle, plus I couldn’t work, so my transport company was on my knees – and I had PTSD from the trauma just like my family.”
When Sasha tried to contact the beautician who had treated her, she discovered that she had blocked her on E -mail, telephone and on all social media accounts.
“I was completely amazed, I thought they would have some responsibility and care if I lived or died,” she says.
Eighteen months later, Sasha is still recovering.
“My hair fell out. I have post-sepsis syndrome, where I have chronic fatigue when I do an exercise, I am in bed of the teat. ‘
She no longer has cosmetic procedures and now warns other people: ‘Liquid BBLs must be completely banned. It is praised as a safe “lunch time” procedure, but I am proof that it is about playing Russian roulette with your life. ‘
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