An Argentinian model has died tragically after years of suffering with the complications of a botched plastic surgery on her buttocks.
43-year-old Silvina Luna passed away in a hospital in Buenos Aires while waiting to receive a kidney transplant.
The former TV presenter's health deteriorated following a 2011 procedure on her buttocks that caused her to develop kidney failure and hypercalcemia.
She was receiving dialysis three times a week to survive.
"There are times of acceptance and times when I wake up and say ‘I’m living a nightmare’,” she said.
Luna's surgeon, Aníbal Lotocki, was sentenced to four years in prison for medical malpractice as a result of a lawsuit brought by Luna and other celebrities.
Another celebrity patient of the same doctor, TV host Mariano Caprarola, died of acute kidney failure two weeks before Luna.
The unfortunate model was injected with polymethylmethacrylate, a synthetic polymer that is used as a substitute for glass in everything from car windows to aquariums. Her lawyer said the procedure was like “putting stones and sand in an engine that needs lubrication.”
"An ending that hurts; a pity and unworthy," her lawyer Fernando Burlando wrote.
"Hopefully Silvina’s fight will help Justice wake up, so that society will take note and there will be no more deaths. I hug her family who never gave up and who, like Silvina, kept their guard up. God save you, dear Silvina Luna."
In a Brazilian butt lift, the buttocks are enlarged with fat removed from other parts of the body.
It is the deadliest type of plastic surgery, but it is also extremely popular in a time when Kim Kardashian, Instagram, and hip-hop culture have made exaggerated buttocks a fashionable body image among women.
It's not unheard of for American women to die while receiving cheap butt lifts in foreign countries south of the border. Southern Florida is also a hot spot for Brazilian butt lifts.
The procedure can lead to fatal embolisms. Some unlucky patients may die during the procedure or develop long-term complications.
In Luna's case, the unfortunate model was essentially poisoned by the synthetic plastic that the doctor injected into her body. The doctor had told Luna that the plastic would make the butt lift last longer.
Her family decided to remove her from life support after she spent 79 days in the hospital waiting for a new kidney. She was unable to receive a transplant because of a bacterial infection.
Such a terrible tragedy.
