Leah Cambridge was a 29-year-old beautician and mother of three when she died during a Brazilian butt lift surgery, according to the New York Post. Cambridge reportedly left her home in Leeds, England to have the procedure done at Elite Aftercare, a legal Turkish clinic in Izmir.
Her partner, Scott Franks, shared on Facebook that she died "really early into the operation," according to Sky News. The cause has yet to be revealed, and she's said to have died in the operating room.
Elite Aftercare released the following statements on their Instagram in response to Cambridge's death:
Earlier this month, BuzzFeed News reported that "The Multi-Society Task Force for Safety in Gluteal Fat Grafting — which represents a number of plastic surgery associations — released a letter warning that complications may be killing as many as 1 in 3,000 people who get a Brazilian butt lift, a rate that is 'greater than any other cosmetic surgery.'"
"The fat is supposed to be injected into the subcutaneous tissue layer, which is where your fat normally sits," according to Dr. J. Peter Rubin, a board-certified plastic surgeon and a professor at the University of Pittsburgh. "But when surgeons go too deep and inject it into the muscle layer beneath it, the results can be deadly."
Celebrities K. Michelle, Cardi B, and fitness influencer Get Bodied by J have all spoken out about complications associated to their butt lift procedures, which were done illegally.
K. Michelle and Get Bodied by J both had near-death experiences earlier this year after undergoing reverse surgeries to remove the foreign fillers from their bodies.
Cells in the skin near the area died, also known as necrosis, due to infection. The silicone contaminated their natural fat, so doctors had to cut away natural skin and then reconstruct the buttocks with multiple surgeries.
In in interview with GQ, Cardi B revealed that she got illegal butt injections in a Queens basement apartment before she rose to fame as a rapper. "It was the craziest pain ever. I felt like I was gonna pass out. I felt a little dizzy. And it leaks for, like, five days," she told the magazine.
She got the surgery after noticing that her co-workers in the strip club with curvier bodies were making more money than she was. In a sit-down with Hot 97, the "Be Careful" artist said she initially went to a doctor but she didn't have enough body fat to transfer to her rear, so she resorted to illegal ass shots.
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She also said she knows it's not healthy and does want to rectify the procedure one day but doesn't have the time right now.