Singer dies having liposuction as mum says she was 'scared it would go wrong'

29 August 2023 , 16:46

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Yuliana Perea, 38, didn't tell her family she was having liposuction (Image: Jam Press)

A Peruvian singer has died after she suffered a heart attack while having liposuction.

Yuliana Perea, 38, underwent the cosmetic procedure but faced medical complications under anaesthetic. She was rushed to an emergency unit at a nearby hospital but was unable to be saved.

The musician, best known for being part of the group Electro Ritmo, died on August 22 and was buried in the General San Miguel Arcangel Cemetery in Iquitos three days later.

An autopsy report revealed she died of acute bilateral pulmonary edema. She had not told her family she was having the operation done at the clinic in Loreto and now they are calling for justice.

Yuliana died of acute bilateral pulmonary edema (Jam Press)

The singer was best known for being part of the group Electro Ritmo (Jam Press)

Yuliana's family have now filed a complaint against the surgeon, John Casado del Castillo, for alleged medical negligence during the procedure. The doctor was reportedly arrested on suspicion of manslaughter by the Department of Criminal Investigation of loreto but has since been released.

Baby boy has spent his life in hospital as doctors are 'scared' to discharge him

Devastated mum Doña Purita told local media: "My husband called [to say] that our little girl died. He was unaware, not even her daughters knew...She was always afraid that those things would go wrong." She added, through tears, that she wanted the surgeon to "rot in jail". Meanwhile Yuliana's father, Juan Perea, expressed a desire for the surgeon to be "sent to the farm" so he cannot "continue killing".

In May, two other women died after having liposuction in other areas of South America. Gleyciane Alves Maciel Brito, 38, went into cardiorespiratory arrest about 12 hours after undergoing surgery at the Mineiro Obesity Institute Hospital in Belo Horizonte, Brazil.

The clinic said in a statement: "The hospital deeply regrets the patient's death, which occurred after an abdominoplasty and liposuction surgery, and she died a few hours after the operation, possibly due to massive thromboembolism. The patient had a previous history of thrombosis. Her body was sent to the Legal Medical Institute to clarify the cause of death."

Menawhile Rosalba Rodríguez underwent the operation inside an apartment block registered as a police tax office in the Colombian capital of Bogotá. The mum of two was said to have been talked into the risky procedure by a friend who said it would be safer and cheaper than going to a registered clinic.

“She was deceived and manipulated due to her innocence and poor education level," her cousin told local media. “She was unable to discern the situation after her best friend introduced her to the surgeon - named only as Katia who performed liposuction on my cousin.”

Olive Loveridge-Greene