A mum who was only given five per cent chance of survival leaving her family devastated is ‘over the moon’ the Government have announced a crackdown on the cosmetic cowboys
A mum left in a coma as her family were told she only had a five per cent chance of survival told The Mirror she is “ecstatic” the Government has taken action.
She was reacting to news Health Secretary Wes Streeting has announced a crack down on cosmetic cowboys. Sasha Dean, 54, who runs a transport company in Bedfordshire, suffered multi organ failure, within days of having a volume-boosting jab into her buttocks.
She was blue-lighted to hospital after suffering a heart attack, a collapsed lung and failing kidneys. Doctors had to put her into an induced coma as they battled to save her life.
Her dad, who is in his 80s, her son, 26 and daughter, 23, were all warned to expect the worst in December 2023. But miraculously after five weeks in hospital she survived the sepsis and has since been campaigning for action – desperate to stop another death.
About the Government announcement they are cracking down on cowboy cosmetics, she said: “It means the world to me. I know that my family will be the same because we have all been waiting for another death.
“It’s amazing that there has only been one death so far. That’s tragic enough. It could have been many, many more. If there had been it would have broken my heart.”
Sasha had a liquid BBL which is a newer technique to the traditional BBL and involves synthetic filler, normally hyaluronic acid injected into the buttocks. Initially she had visited a business in Milton Keynes three times and was offered a discount on her fourth procedure which the practitioner said she would perform at a clinic in her own home.
She said when she arrived the room appeared clean with a proper surgical bed and Sasha’s partner Alan, 47, joined her. She said: “At first glance it looked sterile enough until I was laying down and my partner noticed the state of my feet, they were black.”
Just then the woman’s mum arrived and was told off for not ‘sweeping the room when she’d done her client’s hair’. Sasha said: “I remember thinking this is not good but it’s too late now, let’s finish’.”
After the procedure Sasha began shivering and her nightmare began. She ended up in intensive care and her family told to ‘say their goodbyes’. She recalled: “It was the most traumatic time. The impact of all this on my family has been catastrophic.
“Three days after being taken to ICU they ended up putting me in a coma and I had nightmares of Ian Huntley standing in my wardrobe trying to get me to go in.”
Her family were told she had a ‘five per cent chance of survival’. once again warned: ‘We don’t think she’s going to survive.” Sasha said: “They told my family; ‘everything we’re doing is not working and all of her organs are now failing, she’s in septic shock.’
“My heart was failing, my kidneys failed, my lungs collapsed, I had pneumonia, then I got MRSA, my body couldn’t fight anything. While I was in the coma my partner was on YouTube trying to do my hair in a rose on the top of my head.
“My dad came in and my friend told me he leant on me and just broke down saying; ‘you’re a Brewster’, that’s my maiden name. ‘I’ve brought you up to fight and now I need you to fight’. I had a fit and I was trying to say ‘I could hear him’ and ‘I’m fighting’. They had to remove him from the room.”
Her favourite music was played and sounded like it was a “miles away”. After five days in the coma Sasha started responding to the “industrial antibiotics” and she came out of intensive care after 12 days. It took eight days for her to be out of the “danger zone” and she went on to lose her hair and nails.
Sasha says her mental and physical agony continues today, explaining: “My thoughts are overwhelming. I’ve got PTSD and my NHS counselling has finished but the trauma is still very much there with night terrors and sweats. Even a smell can trigger me, the other day I was hysterical after putting face cream on. I was in the house on my own and it reminded me of the plastic mask I had on my mouth when I was in hospital.”
But she said the campaign to get the Government to act had “given me something to focus on to get change. It has given me the drive.” She says she now hopes this law change will help her heal.
“I’d like to thank Ashton from Save Face for helping me through it all and the Mirror for highlighting it,” she added. “Let’s hope this change will bring procedures like this to an end.”