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HORROR OP
My BBL in a hotel room left me with black holes in my bum that leaked silicone for 6 months
Watch the harrowing video describing Monique's horror liquid BBL that left her fighting for her life
A WOMAN'S hotel room BBL left her with blackened holes that leaked silicone for six months.
Monique Sofroniou, 30, was left fighting for her life after her horror Brazilian butt lift procedure, developing life-threatening sepsis that landed her in hospital.
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Though she survived her ordeal and the agonising pain that came with it, Monique has now been left with permanent scarring across her bum, she told .
And she still has clumps of silicone in her backside, as removing them would involve going under the knife to "scrape" them out - a surgery that would leave her "really disfigured".
Monique underwent what's called a liquid BBL, a non-surgical procedure that usually involves injecting hyaluronic acid - the same material used for lip filler - into the bum.
She booked an appointment with what she believed was a reputable salon to further enhance her bottom non-surgically, after undergoing a traditional BBL the year before.
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Excited at the prospect of getting her dream look, the aesthetician spent £3,000 to have one litre of filler injected into each bum cheek, a treatment popularised by Katie Price.
However, she claims that she was only given the address of where it would be done the day before the procedure - and was walked by the couple to a nearby hotel.
After her hotel room procedure, Monique's skin broke out in blisters that "started to pop", leaving "filler and blood" oozing out of her bum, she told ITV News.
She woke up in the middle of the night being violently sick and with a raging temperature.
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"My sides and my bum were red raw, really hot and really hard," she recalled.
"I was in agony, worst pain of my life."
She was rushed to Stoke Mandeville Hospital A&E in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, where doctors told Monique she had a severe infection and she was diagnosed with sepsis.
Monique stayed in hospital a week.
"They drew around the redness just to make sure it wasn't spreading anywhere," she recalled.
I paid thousands for a BBL like Katie Price - I was left in agony, I still don't know what was injected into my bum
The mum told Kennedy News: "I didn't want to look at it, it made me feel sick.
"It was really burning to the point where I had to have ice packs on it, but even to put the ice pack on it where it was touching was agony. It was burning and stinging.
"It was the worst pain I've ever been through in my life, and I've had childbirth."
She was allowed to go home but her infection got worse, with her side turning black and her skin was covered in holes.
She was rushed back to hospital to undergo emergency surgery, where doctors removed some of Monique's infected skin.
It was there that medics discovered she hadn't been injected with hyaluronic acid at all, but silicone.
Monique's condition started to improve, but the skin on her bum continued to weep and she was in excruciating pain for weeks afterwards.
And for about six months after her BBL, Monique was able to squeeze silicone out of her bum.
As silicone can't be dissolved like hyaluronic acid, she went to see a private surgeon about getting it removed.
She was told that the surgery to scrape the silicone out would leave her disfigured, so Monique is left with it still in her bum.
Monique said: "I thought filler would be a less invasive procedure, it's not supposed to be dangerous.
"I didn't know it wasn't going to be done in a clinic.
"When I got there they met me [at the address] and walked me to an opposite hotel, I thought, 'oh this is a bit weird'.
"I do think I probably should have walked out at that point and been like 'no' but because I knew quite a few people who had been there before I just thought it'd be fine."
She's now calling for the procedure to be banned - or at the very least have tighter regulations around it.
Monique said: "I'm quite a strong person, even though I'm fuming I know there are other people going through a lot worse.
"I'm not after sympathy but I just want to spread awareness because I think it needs to be more regulated.
"I don't think it will be banned but personally in my opinion I think it should be banned.
She added: "No matter who carries it out or how it's regulated, the procedure itself is so high-risk so it's not worth it.
"Thankfully it's a lot better now, it's not hard anymore. There's just the scars really.
"I'm quite thick-skinned. I'm grateful it didn't turn out to be any worse.
"I'm probably going to get a tattoo to cover it."
Between December 2023 and March this year, 153 people reported complaints about their liquid BBLs to Save Face, a government-approved register for aesthetic practitioners, ITV News reported.
LIFE & DEATH WARNING
More than half of the complainants (53 per cent) said they contracted sepsis from their procedures and 68 per cent were left with an infection.
Meanwhile, 98 per cent of them weren't even sure what kind of filler was injected into their bums.
Most were blocked or ignored by the people who carried out their BBL after they tried to complain.
Save Face are campaigning for the procedure to be banned completely.
But they advised that you seek emergency NHS treatment immediately if you feel unwell after a liquid BBL, as "it could literally be the difference between life and death".
Save Face warned that you shouldn't wait to get advice from your BBL provider in these circumstances.
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The group urged anyone with a similar experience to contact them.
The UK government launched a consultation in September 2023 on enhancing the safety and quality of non-surgical cosmetic procedures, which could bring restrictions on how liquid BBLs are performed or see the procedure banned.
What are the symptoms of sepsis?
SEPSIS is a life-threatening reaction to an infection that happens when your immune system overreacts and starts to damage your body's own tissues and organs.
Symptoms of sepsis in an adult include:
- Acting confused, slurred speech or not making sense
- Blue, grey, pale or blotchy skin, lips or tongue – on brown or black skin, this may be easier to see on the palms of the hands or soles of the feet
- A rash that does not fade when you roll a glass over it, the same as meningitis
- Difficulty breathing, breathlessness or breathing very fast
If you think you or someone else has symptoms of sepsis, call 999 or go to A&E.
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