I had the same procedure as tragic BBL mum, I was moments from death & live in constant pain, they must be banned NOW

WHEN mum Bonnie-Louise Cooper heard about the tragic death of mother-of-five Alice Webb, 33, who underwent a liquid BBL she broke down in floods of tears.

“I read the story and was instantly hit with waves of fear and anxiety,” the mum-of-one explains.

“Nine months ago I had the same procedure and almost died.

“It’s heart-breaking. My heart goes out to Alice’s family. I knew this was going to happen eventually.

“It could have been me. I have been begging authorities to ban the procedure.

“Just like Alice I had the same procedure and within 36 hours I was so ill consultants and hospital teams warned my family I was hours away from death.

“I was diagnosed with rapid onset sepsis and have long term tissue damage from the liquid BBL.

“This was just nine months ago, and I am still recovering. 

“How many people have to suffer and die before action is taken?” 

Alice has become the first person to die after undergoing a BBL in the UK.

She fell ill shortly after having the cosmetic treatment at a clinic in Gloucester and was rushed to hospital on Monday evening.

She died the following the day.

Bonnie says: “When I read Alice had died, I cried for her children, her family and the fact no one is listening to survivors of this deadly procedure.

“Alice should not have died. Her legacy must be the banning of these liquid BBLs.”

In March this year Bonnie exclusively told Fabulous about her near-death experience after paying £1,500 for a liquid BBL.

Single beautician Bonnie, from Swanage, Dorset, is mum to five-year-old Kash and decided to have a liquid BBL in the UK rather than jetting to Turkey as many others have done.

“I was too scared to fly overseas to Turkey,” she says.

“I thought that opting for a clinic in the UK would be a safer alternative. I’d seen it advertised on social media with lots of likes.”

The standard surgical BBL involves the patient having fat harvested from their own body and re-injected into the buttock area. 

A non-invasive liquid BBL uses a range of dermal fillers including hyaluronic acid which is injected into each buttock using a large cannula to add volume.

The liquid BBL is promoted as relatively pain free because the filler contains lidocaine, a local anaesthetic. 

For Bonnie it seemed like the perfect option and the mum had the procedure done in Romford, Essex, in November last year.

She recalls: “I was told I was having 250 mils of filler injected into each buttock. In total that is half a litre of filler injected into my bottom. That’s a lot.

“I was given some lidocaine, but I wasn't prepared for the pain of the cannula injection.

“I’m a beautician and I wasn't asked the standard health questions I ask for when I do basic eyebrow dying. 

“I gave birth and thought that was the most painful experience. It’s nothing compared to what I experienced.”

According to Bonnie her liquid BBL injections were administered while she stood up in a ‘beauty salon environment’ not an operating room and caused unrelenting pain. 

“It’s stomach-churning pain,” she says. 

“I could feel the cannula needing to be pushed across my bottom under the skin. It wasn't what I expected.

“I was in shock after the procedure. I tried to put on a brave face. I was told I was likely to feel a bit odd because of the lidocaine. 

“I asked if I should drive home and was told it was fine.

“That didn't make sense to me. I’d just had half a litre of filler injected into my bottom.  I thought I’d be offered a special pillow to sit on.”

Bonnie claims she wasn’t given any after care instructions and was sent home without antibiotics.

“By the time I got home I was screaming in agony and couldn't get out of the car and I'd started vomiting and fainted trying to get into my house,” she says.

“If my sister hadn’t been there to help me, I’d have collapsed in the driveway.”

“I rang the clinic in agony. They told me they'd send antibiotics around the next day and to go to bed.”

Bonnie explains she couldn't keep any water down and was grateful her sister, Lisa Hughes, 32, a stay-at-home mum, was visiting that night.

“I’m a single mum. I couldn't keep the water down. I'd been told to take some codeine and paracetamol but the pain I was experiencing was worse than childbirth."

The next morning Bonnie’s temperature had skyrocketed. 

Her sister said she was shocked at Bonnie’s condition.

 “She was screaming in pain, sweating and vomiting,” says Lisa.

“She tried to get up to go to the toilet and fainted. 

“My sister was making no sense and hallucinating. I knew she needed to go straight to hospital.”

Ambulance officers were so concerned about the young mum’s condition she was blue-lighted to hospital and rushed to Intensive Care in the ER department.

Bonnie’s tests revealed she had rapid onset sepsis.

She was given morphine regularly for the next four days and intravenous antibiotics to fight the injection.

“My sister was told I could die,” Bonnie says.

“It was only her quick thinking that prevented that. My son would have been orphaned.

“I had an emergency MRI scan, and it revealed the procedure had caused muscle damage. It was so serious I was given a referral to Salisbury Plastics for dissolving procedures.”

Alice should not have died. Her legacy must be the banning of these liquid BBLs

Bonnie Louise Cooper

It took almost five days before Bonnie was well enough to be sent home.

“I had to take two different types of antibiotics for another month and am still on painkillers today,” she says.

“The antibiotics promised by the clinic never arrived and I was never told, despite asking what type of filler they used. 

“The hospital tried to call the salon, but they didn't answer. It was awful.

“I felt like I’d been thrown to the wolves. I was left with no aftercare and no follow up.”

Almost a year later Bonnie still has pain when sitting and continues to experience pain down her left leg.  

“I know I agreed to the treatment but if someone had explained even in extreme circumstances, I could end up in hospital sepsis,” she says.

“I know as a single mum I would have reconsidered.

“To this day I still don't know what was injected into my bum. It could have been any combination of fillers or dermal injectables.”

Bonnie still has nightmares about the pain and hallucinations she suffered after the procedure.

Save Face, a national, government-approved register of accredited non-surgical treatment practitioners says complaints about non-surgical BBLs have risen at an ‘alarming’ rate.

It's calling for the procedures to be banned while the Local Government Association has asked the government to take urgent action.

GP and MP for Stroud, Dr Simon Opher, said the death of Ms Webb is "absolutely tragic". He also urged people not to have BBLs, as it is unknown whether the procedure is safe.

Gloucestershire Police's major crime team is now investigating, and the two arrested people have been released on bail.

“This should have happened earlier. Too many people think they can have ‘lunchtime procedure and it’s like getting your hair done. It isn’t,” says Bonnie.

“I know people want the cheapest, quickest option to ‘looking good’ but I found out the hard way it’s deadly.

Bonnie is continuing her campaign and using all women who have liquid BBL booked in Britain to cancel their procedures.

“I am alive to wave my son goodbye at the school gates. Alice isn’t and we must change that.

“Alice’s death and the near-death experience of countless other women must not be in vain.”