A 27-year-old woman has died while undergoing a Brazilian butt lift (BBL) procedure at a private clinic in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. Barbara Laura Souza Félix entered the clinic on Tuesday for surgery to transfer fat from her stomach and back to her buttocks.
During the grafting stage, medical staff detected a sudden decline in her pulmonary ventilation levels before her heart stopped. Surgeons attempted to revive her for over an hour, but she was pronounced dead at 12:20pm. Doctors believe the most likely cause of death was a pulmonary embolism, possibly triggered by fat.
Police have launched an inquiry, and her body has been transferred for a post-mortem examination. Barbara, a sales worker, was single with no children and no known underlying health conditions. She is survived by a brother and a mother living in Spain.
Her cousin Ingrid Ester Martins Picoreli described her as 'super upbeat, extroverted and always happy'. The family have raised concerns about the procedure and response times. The surgeon's lawyer stated that pre-operative assessments were carried out and clinical measures were followed.
This incident has renewed scrutiny of BBL procedures, which have high complication rates. The same clinic was linked to a similar death in 2021, when a 39-year-old mother died from a pulmonary embolism. The case remains under police investigation in Minas Gerais.
