A mum has died shortly before undergoing plastic surgery at an alleged unlicensed clinic.
María Paz Peñaloza had planned on having implants removed from her buttocks and was injected with lidocaine.
But shortly after being administered the local anaesthetic, she suffered a cardiac arrest.
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The 31-year-old was rushed to a hospital where doctors declared her brain dead.
María, who had a three-year-old son and a small baby, died in hospital on 11 April – two weeks after the planned procedure.
Doctors had to make the difficult decision to turn off her life support as she showed no signs of improvement.
Felipe Hoyos Foronda, the Colombian citizen who was performing the procedure in the Astoria neighbourhood, located in Queens, New York, has since been arrested.
He was caught trying to flee the US on the same day María was rushed to hospital and was apprehended at the John F. Kennedy International Airport.
According to authorities, he was a licensed doctor in Colombia but he did not have a licence to perform cosmetic work in the US.
The Queens Prosecutor’s Office initially charged him with second degree and unauthorised exercise of a profession.
After María’s death, the judicial body confirmed that it will review the charges.
The Queens District Attorney’s Office stated that María went to the first floor of a house that operated as a surgery room, as reported by Need To Know.
Inside the room were devices, syringes, medicines and visible medical furniture.
Felipe’s arrest revealed that he may have performed cosmetic work on other people previously.
According to local press, he promoted his aesthetic services on social media and regularly offered discounts.
The police have appealed for more information from the public in the hope that they can identify more potential victims.
María’s mother, Gladys Cabrera, revealed to local press that she had spoken to her daughter on the day of the planned procedure.
Gladys said that María had told her she wasn’t going to go ahead with it.
But just hours later, she received a call and was told that her daughter had been admitted to the intensive care unit at The Mount Sinai Hospital, in New York.
A GoFundMe was started by María’s family to raise funds so that her family could travel to New York, where she moved in 2021, to say goodbye.
At the time the fundraising page was set up, they said: “Doctors have made the decision to disconnect her, without allowing time for her family in Colombia – her parents and her eldest son – to travel to say goodbye and give her the farewell she deserves.
“We beg that a humanitarian visa be granted to her parents and her eldest son, who today only wish to arrive in time to be with her in her final moments.
“The family has initiated the process with the Colombian embassy and requested an emergency appointment, but time is running out.
“We need your help so that this request is considered by the relevant authorities.
“In addition, we also request financial support to cover travel costs.
“Every contribution, no matter how small, helps in this painful time.”
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