Destiny Benjamin, a 23-year-old woman, was found dead four days after having Brazilian Butt Lift (BBL) surgery at a hospital in Lagos State.

In a conversation with Vanguard, the owner of Cynosure Aesthetic Plastic operation, Dr Ogbe Omoruyi, confirmed the development and denied the allegation that the woman died in the hospital during the operation.

Omoruyi explained that the deceased had surgery on March 8th, 2023, which he said went well, but that he had trouble breathing a few days later.

The deceased was put on oxygen and stabilized before being referred to an Intensive care unit, which is 10 minutes away from its facility, according to the plastic surgeon.

Omoruyi also revealed that the patient was transferred to Genesis Specialists Hospital in Ikeja GRA, Lagos State, where she died.

He said: “She is a 23-years old girl according to what she wrote on the document. She had surgery and after that, she was fine, her surgery went well. I can show you our case note to show that everything was fine, however, after days, she was having difficulty breathing. We placed her on oxygen and she was stabilised before we referred her to an Intensive care unit, which is 10 minutes away from our facility.

“Unfortunately as we all know, surgery has its own risk, and if you ask any professional doctor or surgeon who knows about life consumptions and tractions, it is very easy to think that she could have fat embolism or clot embolism, but she has difficulty breathing.

“A very important investigation was done, and that was how the investigation was called CT pulmonary angiogram this can detect any clot that is present within the pulmonary system unfortunately, she suffered this condition but she was not pulmonary assort and that makes us begin to wonder what it could have been, because from the findings of the investigation, a different diagnosis was raised after the embolism, and the results came out based after she did the test.

“The test was done in the facility where she was referred to, when she got there and went for the test, the investigation was done and the report, I didn’t even get to know about the report. It was done at a different facility, however, we maintained a relationship with the facility and when I was informed and showed the results, it was said that she didn’t have an embolism.

“Her cousin, Sunset, was with her after her surgery. They went around because they were together. She came here to see her and they took pictures together, moving around the clinic compound two days later. This is to let you know that she was fine after the surgery.

“However or unfortunately, an autopsy hasn’t been done; I don’t know if the family is going to consent to that, I mean the autopsy to see the exact cause of her death.”

In contrast to social media claims that the medical clinic had five deaths in a year, Ogbe said the clinic had only two deaths, which occurred in 2018 and 2021.

He said: “This can be verified under the Local Government because all Local governments have Primary Health centers where practitioners give reports on the death toll. So, we have only two recorded deaths.”

The Police React
SP Benjamin Hundeyin, the Lagos State spokesman, responded by saying he was unaware of the incident.

He said: “To the best of my knowledge, I am not aware of the incident, the families of the bereaved have neither reported to the police authority.”