Bonnie-Louise Cooper nearly died of sepsis after a wet butt lift (BBL) in England. Now a parliamentary committee has urged the government to immediately ban the cosmetic procedure after several horror stories
Bonnie-Louise Cooper thought she was making the right decision when she opted for a Brazilian Butt Lift (BBL) in England, but the treatment almost cost her her life and has now left her struggling with PTSD.
He is speaking out as the government faces calls to ban BBLs in the wake of fatal cases. A prominent parliamentary committee is warning that insufficient oversight in the cosmetics sector has created a “wild west” environment where patients are given treatments such as Botox and fillers in garden sheds, hotel rooms and public toilets.
The Women and Equality Commission (WEC) has criticized ministers for “not moving fast enough” to introduce a licensing framework for non-surgical cosmetic treatments.
Bonnie-Louise, 28, who came within an hour of losing her life, praised the news that MPs were finally tackling the crisis. She told the Mirror: “Too many people have been hurt or permanently damaged by this process. I am absolutely relieved that MPs have finally taken this issue seriously.”
BBL involves non-surgical buttock enhancement where dermal fillers are injected to boost volume and contour the buttocks. Bonnie-Louise, from Swanage in Dorset, believed she made a wise choice when she decided to have the cosmetic procedure in England instead of flying to Turkey.
However, he ended up spending weeks in hospital after contracting a fatal sepsis following a liquid BBL.
The mother of a six-year-old son now suffers from PTSD due to her traumatic experience and continues to require physiotherapy as her legs constantly go numb. She said: “The people who did this to me knew I was a mum and he could have been an orphan.
“I wasn’t taken seriously and I don’t think the other girls were because we chose to be. But we were misled by what we thought were medical professionals. It has taken a toll on me medically and physically. I don’t trust medical professionals now. I still have pins and needles in both legs.”
In recent months many unregulated clinics offering reduced and often dangerous surgical treatments carried out by unqualified staff have been highlighted by the media.
It was reported in 2024 that Alice Webb, a 33-year-old mother of five, became the first person to die after BBL fluid in a UK clinic. Another mother fell into a coma after liquid BBL.
Sasha Dean, 54, from Bedfordshire, was in a coma for five days and spent more than a month in hospital due to complications, claiming her doctor was not a qualified surgeon.
The WEC’s latest report asserts: “High-risk procedures such as the liquid Brazilian butt lift (BBL), which has led to deaths, should be banned immediately without further consultation. A licensing system for lower-risk procedures, where only the properly trained can perform them, should be introduced in this Parliament. The government is not introducing such a system fast enough.”
Currently, there are no regulations governing who can have non-surgical cosmetic procedures such as injectables, including fillers or botulinum toxin injections, often known as Botox, laser treatment or chemical peels.
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