ITV News reporter Ellie Pitt has heard from dozens of women who all say they have suffered an adverse reaction to the so-called liquid Brazilian Butt Lift treatments with physical and mental side effects
Lift Aesthetics in Essex boasts clients including Katie Price and reality TV stars Hannah Elizabeth (Love Island) and Dani Imbert (The Only Way Is Essex).
But it also brings together a growing number of clients who have needed life-saving emergency surgery.
Through an Instagram filled with glossy videos and before-and-after photo reels, Lift Aesthetics promotes non-surgical Brazilian Butt Lift (BBL) process.
It involves hundreds of milliliters of cosmetic liquid filler injected into the tub to make it bigger and give it an hourglass body shape.
But it can have dangerous consequences if it goes wrong.
In December, ITV News spoke to Louise MollerLift Aesthetics client who developed sepsis and had a dead tissue removal operation after having the BBL fluid.
Following the report, ITV News was contacted by ten customers of Lift Aesthetics who all had similar experiences.
Many of them reported pain during the procedure and severe infection afterward, in some cases requiring hospital care.
Bonnie-Louise Cooper told ITV News she was rushed to hospital by ambulance after collapsing at home after booking Lift Aesthetics liquid BBL.
She explained that doctors told her she had the life-threatening reaction to an infection, sepsis, and they told her. “If your sister hadn’t called the ambulance when she did, you would have been dead within an hour.”
“My son could have been an orphan, so that’s really stuck with me,” she added.
Ms Cooper says she still experiences numbness, where she loses feeling in her legs and her feet change colour.
That and what she describes as “forever scarring” are side effects of the BBL filler she still lives with, “I’m still not well.”
Several of the customers, including Paygon Harris, who says she experienced “severe” pain while the procedure was being done, have been blocked on social media and WhatsApp after trying to complain.
If you have experienced complications following a cosmetic surgery procedure, please contact Investigations@itv.com
Most of the women who contacted ITV News said they booked with Lift Aesthetics because the company’s celebrity clientele attracted them and made them believe it was a reputable business.
But Lift Aesthetics hasn’t done the BBL liquids. They refer clients to non-surgical clinics in Essex or London BBL Clinic and Dr Ricky Sawyer does the injections.
In December Lift Aesthetics told ITV News that they had severed their business ties with Non-Surgical Clinics Essex.
Lift Aesthetics has now admitted that it continued a working relationship due to an “overwhelming influx of clients” who were “saddened to hear that we are disassociating with the companies based on the unfortunate minority of clients who experienced complications following their treatment”.
Following the ITV News report, Epping Forest District Council in Essex launched its own investigation into Lift Aesthetics and Ricky Sawyer.
The local council has now issued Mr Sawyer with a prohibition notice, banning him from carrying out the process in an unsafe manner in their authority area.
ITV News is aware that Mr Sawyer has carried out liquid BBL in Manchester and London’s Canary Wharf since receiving the ban notice.
We found him arriving for a day of rendezvous carrying his gear in a tray and plastic carrier bag. Mr. Sawyer did not answer one of the questions put to him.
ITV News reporter Ellie Pitt caught up with Mr Sawyer arriving in London for a day out, but he did not answer any questions put to him.
Kate Price and Dani Imbert said “no comment” to our request for a response to the allegations against Lift Aesthetics.
Hannah Elizabeth says: “I’ve always been open and honest about the surgeries I’ve had and I want to reassure people that I would never promote a company or anything that I felt was unsafe.
“I personally never had any problems with the procedure and felt that I was properly taken care of. I was unaware of the allegations and did not know that the company was prohibited from doing any treatments.
“It is very sad to hear the experiences that some others have gone through. I will look into this and seriously consider my treatments in the future.
“I would like to take this opportunity to send the women who have been in trouble my best wishes and hope they have a speedy recovery.”
The London BBL Clinic told ITV News: “As professionals in the industry, we pride ourselves on the safety and well-being of clients. We have seen first-hand the issues that can arise if this treatment is completed by unqualified clinics, and as a result , we constantly fix work done by other companies.
“We agree with the need to point this out to potential consumers, and if that’s our example because of our popularity around the treatment and celebrity clientele who have endorsed the treatment, then so be it.
“We believe that despite the fact that non-surgical BBL is far less risky than surgical alternatives, it is insulting to assume that the general public believes the treatment is risk-free, and we assure you that we highlight all potential complications to our clients prior to their consent, including infection or putrefaction, which may result from a simple cut’.
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