A woman almost lost her top lip after a free filler competition went horribly wrong.
Marguerite Cummings was delighted when she won a giveaway on social media and was offered a complementary procedure.
But instead of a pillowy pout, the 26-year-old was left with an oozing, blistering sore.
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“I never win anything so I was super excited to get the giveaway,” Marguerite told Need To Know.
“Then one morning, I woke up and instantly knew something was wrong.
“I ended up being told if I’d waited until another day to get it checked out I would have lost my upper lip.”
Marguerite, a direct support professional from Connecticut, US, said the day she got it done, everything felt “normal”.
She said: “They numbed me and began to plump me up.
“It wasn’t until the last injection when I felt a pang, but other than that it was all good.
“I bruise easily so I didn’t think anything of the immediate bruising.”
By the following day, Marguerite’s lips were even more swollen.
She said: “I was embarrassed to be in public but thought nothing of it, just that this was the healing process.
“Then I woke up again, and instantly knew something was wrong.
“I had a massive hole next to my nose which I later found out was gravity and oxygen trying to find a way out and my nose was covered in puss.
“My upper lip was grey.
“I sent a picture to my cousin who is a dermatology assistant and he said go to the emergency room at once.”
Marguerite claims medics initially told her there was nothing they could do besides prescribe her antibiotics.
She said: “By the grace of god, the nurse that was on call just so happened to be an aesthetician nurse and used to work in dermatology.
“She took one look at me and said I wasn’t going home. She personally called my doctor.
“He drove back from vacation and he and his colleague put two water bottles full of dissolver into my lip.”
Marguerite describes the week that followed as “hell”.
She said: “I was in pure agony.
“There was also so much blood too.
“I was in so much pain.”
Since getting the fillers in October 2022, Marguerite has had two rounds of laser done to help with the scarring.
She has had no other cosmetic work – and doesn’t plan on getting any.
The 26-year-old shared her experience on TikTok and was flooded with comments from horrified viewers. The video was watched over 24,300 times.
In the video, Marguerite can be seen speaking to the camera as she shows the damage done to her lips.
The right side of her top lip can be seen blistered, black and peeling.
Social media user Meghan said: “Ugh! Poor thing! Glad you’re doing better!”
Meadow added: “Sending love.”
Kelly commented: “I’m sorry this happened to you Marguerite, feel better soon!”
Nairi said: “Hi I’m seeing this almost years later haha but I was wondering did you take any medication besides the dissolving?”
To which Marguerite replied: “No! They did about 10 water bottles worth of the dissolving liquid and then they gave me pain meds prescription for the pain.”
