Plastic Surgery
A 29-year-old mother of two died after she got a Brazilian butt lift in Miami. Getty Images

A woman went to Miami to improve her curves but tragically died after visiting a South Florida plastic surgery clinic, the Miami Herald reported Tuesday. Heather Meadows died Thursday after she underwent a Brazilian butt lift. The mother of two was 29 years old.

Meadows, a native of West Virginia, suffered medical complications after the procedure was performed at Encore Plastic Surgery in Miami-Dade County. Fat clots clogged her lungs and heart, which caused her organs to fail, Darren Caprara, director of operations for the medical examiner’s department, told the Miami Herald. She was pronounced dead at Palm Springs General Hospital. The official autopsy report is pending.

During a Brazilian butt lift, fat is removed through liposuction on the stomach, back, thighs and/or arms, and then injected into the buttocks. The procedure could cost up to $13,000, depending on the surgeon and how much liposuction is performed.

In Meadows’ case, the fat may have been introduced into her bloodstream through a vein. Fat complications are rare, though, Dr. Jose Rodriguez-Feliz of Miami Cosmetic Surgery told WQAM-TV. He said an error is probably what led to Meadow’s death. “This is something that can definitely be prevented, if [the fat transfer] is performed in a correct way,” Rodriguez-Feliz said.

Encore has not responded to Meadows’ death. The doctors, Orlando Llorente and James McAdoo, have connections to a place where a woman died in 2013 after a breast augmentation, the New York Daily News reported. But there aren’t any current complaints against Encore.

The Brazilian butt lift garnered fame thanks to Dr. Michael Salzhauer, better known as Dr. Miami. The surgeon Snapchats all his surgeries, with patient consent. His snaps get more than 100,000 views a day, he told Vanity Fair.

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