Tragedy struck in Miami as 26-year-old Wildelis Rosa, a police officer from New Orleans and a US Army Reservist, died just days after undergoing a Brazilian Butt Lift (BBL) surgery.

Rosa had recently returned from Kuwait and traveled to Florida in mid-March to celebrate her birthday. While in Miami, she decided to undergo the cosmetic procedure at Prestige Plastic Surgery Clinic. On March 19, she completed her pre-surgery tests, and the following day, doctors performed the operation — extracting fat from 12 areas of her body and injecting it into her buttocks. The procedure cost around $7,495.

Three days after the surgery, Rosa informed her family about it while recovering in a rental apartment. However, her older sister, Anamin Vazquez, said alarm bells went off when Rosa stopped replying to calls and messages. On March 23, a friend staying with her discovered her collapsed in the bathroom. Despite attempts to revive her through CPR, Rosa was already gone.

An autopsy by the Miami-Dade Medical Examiner confirmed her cause of death as a pulmonary embolism — a blockage in the lungs often linked to complications from major surgeries like BBLs. Reports revealed that Rosa had been in severe pain, struggled to breathe, and showed worrying signs such as low blood pressure and numbness in her legs, all pointing to her deteriorating condition before her sudden death.

Rosa’s passing underscores the serious risks associated with cosmetic surgeries, especially BBLs, which have grown increasingly popular but are also known for their potential life-threatening complications.

For her grieving family, the heartbreak is profound. A young woman who proudly served her country and community lost her life in the pursuit of beauty — a painful reminder that elective surgeries, while common, are never without risks.