The 52-year-old decided to get dermal filler after being mistaken for her husband’s mum three times in the space of two weeks, despite having had Botox for nearly 20 years.
Krysta says she had filler injected into her smile lines every year since 2016 and loved the results before a vascular occlusion in 2020 caused the skin inside her mouth, nose and around her left nostril to become necrotic and fall off.
Shocking photos show how her entire nostril turned black and rotted before it fell off.
The professional entertainer says she “lost the will to live” after the shock disfigurement ruined her career of 30 years, despite her doctor claiming she would be fine within six weeks of the incident.
Krysta says that thankfully her husband, 42-year-old Redd Gill, found a facial prosthetics specialist after staying up all night doing research.
Krysta has shared her prosthetics journey on TikTok to warn others of the potential dangers of dermal fillers and to show how she used makeup and jewellery to hide her scars.
Krysta said: “I had been having Botox since the 90s and loved that and had amazing results.
“My husband is 10 years younger than me and after he joined me here [in Seattle], in a period of about two weeks I got mistaken for his mother three times.
“I don’t know if it was my neck or my cheek or what was giving away the difference in our ages, but I needed to do something about this. I sought out filler in 2015.
“I felt like I was really safe and in really good hands so I signed the consent form, which just had some warnings about bruising and swelling and a risk of infection. I didn’t see anything else that concerned me at all.”
Krysta says she visited her doctor in 2020 for a routine filler session ahead of a wedding, but instead was administered an injection that left her permanently disfigured.
Krysta said: “When I got home that day [October 12 2020] I started feeling a strange numbing, tingling sensation. And it [my face] started getting really swollen and I started slurring my words.
“It was getting progressively worse. In the morning I called the doctor’s office and they said to come in right away.
“The doctor examined me and then left the room and came back looking very nervous. He told me he hit a blood vessel.
“I was terrified and confused and just did whatever they suggested and waited for more information when I would go back to the office every day. He still never told me that I could get necrosis and lose pieces of my face.
“He kept saying it’s going to get worse before it gets better but you’re probably going to be fine in about six weeks.
“I was very shocked when that day came along where I was dressing the wounds with the ointment that my doctor gave me and I saw the bottom of my nostril snap and detach from my upper lip.
It caused some PTSD when I witnessed my face burning and melting and falling off.
“That was really terrifying. It was Halloween of 2020 the day that my entire left nostril just detached and was dangling there by a tiny piece of flesh. I was in shock and terrified.
“When you hit a blood vessel it blocks it and freezes it. It’s similar to a frostbite injury. The flesh around it just dies and falls off.
“I think [the doctor] was particularly clumsy and careless in his injection and because it was such a big amount and a major blood vessel, it caused an extra-large amount of damage.”
Krysta says her mouth was swollen shut after the injury, leaving her unable to eat, which resulted in her dropping 30 lbs in just 30 days.
Krysta said: “My entire left nasal passage and the inside of my mouth also looked like that and felt like it was on fire.
“I went to see another doctor who specialises in reconstruction surgery. He took my bandages off and handed me a mirror and said it’s not going to grow back. That was a really rude awakening. I really didn’t realise until that day that it was just gone.
“That was when I lost my will to live. I knew I couldn’t work. I’ve been working as a model and singer for 30 years and you can’t do a lot without a whole face.
“I haven’t been able to go back to work full time because I have such horrible breathing and breath support issues with my missing nostril and shrivelled nasal passage. It was a great life until this happened to me. I really miss it.”
Krysta says she was unable to afford reconstructive surgery and has instead worn a prosthetic nostril for more than two years.
She is now saving up for new prosthetics that will fit her face better.
