A Venezuelan mother, 31, tragically died following a liposuction procedure performed at a shopping center – a clinic located in a mall in the eastern Venezuelan city of Cumaná.
The fiasco occurred Sunday night after Ana Rosa Mavarez Rivero reported to a clinic located in the Marina Plaza Shopping Center in her hometown of Cumaná (Sucre), Ultimas Noticias reported.
She had undergone a laser liposuction procedure, also known as lipo laser, in which surgeons use a laser to trim fat, shape the body and sculpt cellulite, Jam Press reported.
The procedure is generally considered less traumatic and invasive than the standard procedure.
However, this quickly proved the exception after the mother of two fell ill with breathing problems at around 10 p.m., prompting the family to dial emergency services.
However, due to an oxygen shortage at the hospital, they were still waiting for an emergency vehicle at 2:45 a.m.
‘I’m filming in Cumaná and we can’t get an ambulance,’ a family member said in a clip describing the nightmarish scenario.
‘Ven911 doesn’t have oxygen so we can’t get out of here.’
Rivero finally made it to the hospital, where she was admitted without vital signs, local media reported.
The poor woman was officially pronounced dead at 4 a.m.
Authorities arrested Dr. Alexander Larrochelle, who reportedly operated on Mavarez, after he visited a local police station to provide a statement Sunday.
Dr. Larrochelle will be held for up to 45 days while investigators go over their findings.
Ana Rosa Mavarez Rivero is a mother to an eight-year-old girl and 11-year-old boy.
Petro said her daughter complained about severe pain and was not given medicine to treat the discomfort.
She added that Mavarez had her own lipo pump at the facility to reduce the swelling, but that one of the nurses declined to use it.
Mavarez began convulsing around 10pm and was not intubated until 12:30 am when Dr. Larrochelle showed up at the clinic.
Rivero said that death certificate showed her daughter’s time of death as 11 pm, and that Dr. Larrochelle and the staff tried to convince the family into thinking that she was still alive.
