WARNING GRAPHIC IMAGES: Eve Alfonso, 47, from Sheffield was looking for a body-confidence boost so booked treatment to reduce her fat and tighten the skin on her arm via the Illusionz Clinic in Sheffield
A mum was left physically and mentally scarred following a botched beauty treatment at a clinic, and is warning others to be careful and do their research.
With professional branding and a convincing online presence, the Illusionz clinic appeared legitimate, so Eve Alfonso, 47, paid £300 upfront before making an appointment for February 4, 2024. But what happened next left her in so much pain she though she was going to die.
Eve’s story comes on the back of a successful Mirror campaign to crackdown on dangerous cosmetic procedures in backstreet clinics which have killed and maimed patients.
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“They gave me local anaesthetic,” Eve told the Mirror. “The practitioner started on my right arm. Suddenly, fat was squirting out – they panicked and didn’t know what to do. The procedure became excruciating… I could feel this intense burning. I closed my eyes and tried to breathe through it. They told me that was normal. No sterile dressing was applied and they said I’d be fine and to see them in two weeks. I walked out with a raw, open wound. No bandage – nothing.”
That night, things took a turn for the worse and Eve claims her arm doubled in size. “I looked like the Hulk. I couldn’t sleep. My kids couldn’t even hug me, I was terrified.” Eve called the clinic and was told to ‘put a plaster on it’ but things soon took a turn for the worse.”The blister kept growing – it was infected. I was put on the strongest antibiotics – and told I was at risk of sepsis.”
Eve’s story is a stark reminder that cosmetic procedures should only be carried out by medically trained staff. Just last week, Health Secretary Wes Streeting announced new laws to stop dodgy practitioners harming people with botched bum lifts, lip fillers and Botox injections – in a victory for The Mirror’s campaign to end the scandal of unregulated activities.
Alice Webb, 33, became the first person to die in Britain following a liquid Brazilian bum lift. Her partner Dane Knight said: “We are finally seeing the government take meaningful action to protect others from the same tragedy. This victory is a crucial step to ensuring no family has to endure the heartbreak we have.”
Meanwhile, Eve claims the clinic promised to “fix the scar” later, but then went quiet for more than a year until The Mirror got in touch in August.
When asked to respond to Eve’s claims, the clinic said the treatment wasn’t carried out on the premises of Illusionz and was carried out by a trainer, although the Mirror has seen messages to prove Illusionz in Sheffield arranged it.
Dr Isran Sajid from Harley Private Dental met Eve after her treatment and said he was horrified by what he saw. “When I first heard about Eve’s story, she came to see me quite distraught. I could see she was really quite visibly upset and nervous. We went through what had happened, how she went to see a practitioner who does aesthetics without a medical background, for what she presumed to be Endolift. However very quickly we established this was a fake device and the inappropriate treatment protocol.
“She was in pain during the procedure, bleeding during the procedure, there was a huge amount of what seemed to be liquified fat leaking out of her arm. The bleeding and bruising which followed just made the whole experience a horror show to hear about, to be honest. I have had about 10 or 15 messages on social media from patients who have had the fake Endolift treatment, they are messaging me about complications from nerve palsies, to burns with skin necrosis.
“They were asking for reassurance from myself that this was a normal post procedure and recovery routine. Unfortunately for a lot of them, it was the case that none of this should be happening and doesn’t sound normal.
“I don’t think someone who goes on a weekend course should be allowed to pick up a syringe and stick a needle in someone’s face without really understanding the issues that they can cause long term to someone.
“It’s so important to choose a qualified practitioner who has a database of results and who has a robust complications management and strategy, someone who has dealt with complications who can go through scenarios and phases of the treatment with their patient before any treatment is carried out.”
It’s now been more than a year, and Eve still lives with the trauma and the scar. “Every time I talk about it, I want to cry. I’ve lost all confidence. I won’t wear short sleeves. I hate summer.”
Susannah Bennison – Patient Safety Advisor & UK Endolift Representative, said Eve’s case is a painful reminder of why Endolift® is strictly a doctor- and dentist-only procedure.
“This is not a facial or a beauty add-on. It’s a form of minor surgery,” she told the Mirror. “The safety profile of Endolift is exceptionally high, but only when used correctly, by trained and insured medical professionals.”
She advised people to do their homework and make sure:
– the clinic is using a genuine, CE-marked, MHRA-registered Endolift® device
– the practitioner is medically trained to deal with complications
– they can prescribe antibiotics if something goes wrong
She continued: “If your car needed specialist servicing, you wouldn’t let an unqualified stranger poke around under the bonnet. And you certainly wouldn’t let them neuter your dog. So why on earth would anyone let a non-medic insert a laser fibre beneath their skin?
“This isn’t about gatekeeping — it’s about protecting the public from harm. The fake devices flooding this industry are dangerous, and the unregulated training academies pushing them should be held to account.”
Eve wants others to learn from her experience and make sure they only book cosmetic procedures with medically backed practitioners. “I researched the medically backed Endolift® treatment and it seemed really good. The practitioner also said good things and mentioned the great results after it. I wasn’t aware about the counterfeit/fake treatments out there misusing the Endolift name. I would warn others to do their research in finding a medically backed practitioner and look for the Endolift trademark logo.”
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