A mother of three has died after undergoing a tummy tuck allegedly performed by a barber.
Rebeca Brisal had wanted an abdominoplasty for years, according to her sister Ashley.
One day, a woman Rebeca knew visited her clothing shop and told her she had undergone surgery with a “very good” doctor.
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Rebeca, 37, contacted the alleged medic, Emanuel Hernández, and arranged the procedure.
“She was so happy,” Ashley recalled.
Days before the operation, Rebeca told Hernández she had two hernias.
According to Ashley, he suggested “killing two birds with one stone” by carrying out the tummy tuck while also repairing the hernias.
It was only on 23 July, the day before the operation, that Hernández sent her the address of a different clinic in Santo Domingo Este, Dominican Republic.
She arrived there in the early hours of Friday (24 July), as reported by Need To Know.
Hours after the surgery, her family received a call to say she had developed serious complications.
Ashley said she arrived to find what appeared to be a “normal house” that had been “turned into a clinic”.
She claims Hernández fled the scene by climbing over a wall.
Rebeca’s death certificate states that she died from respiratory failure and pulmonary oedema.
Her family allege the clinic lacked the essential equipment needed to stabilise her when she began suffering complications.
One of her brothers-in-law told local media: “She developed complications and fluid started building up in my sister-in-law’s lungs.
“That clinic didn’t have the equipment to drain the fluid or stop a haemorrhage.”
He believes Hernández changed the clinic at the last minute because “he wanted to keep all the money” rather than pay the share that would have gone to the clinic where Rebeca had undergone her pre-operative tests.
It was only after the family reported the case that health authorities told them Hernández was not a qualified medical specialist but a barber.
Investigators are examining both Hernández, who has not yet been located, and the clinic, including whether it was licensed to carry out surgical procedures and properly equipped to deal with a serious medical emergency.
Rebeca’s family are also calling on authorities to determine the responsibility of clinic staff and those running the facility.
According to Ashley, Rebeca’s dream was to help their mother, Sonia, retire.
She had hoped to expand her business and help her sisters start businesses of their own.
Rebeca is survived by her husband, Oscar, and their three children.
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