QUITO – A young beauty queen has died in Ecuador after undergoing liposuction surgery that she had received as a prize, her family says, calling the operation a case of medical malpractice.
Catherine Cando Cornejo, a 19-year-old student who in October was named “Queen of Duran,” a town near the port city of Guayaquil, died Saturday during abdominal liposuction.
Members of her family said she was admitted to surgery at a Guayaquil clinic in the morning for waist reduction meant to take off three centimetres and they were notified nearly 10 hours later she had died.
“My sister did not want the operation because she was afraid, but the doctor insisted on several occasions … and convinced her to undergo surgery,” Daniel Zavala Cornejo told reporters.
Family lawyer Carlos Reyes said the young beauty queen died of cerebral edema or swelling of the brain.
“The clinic lawyer said the death was due to cardiac arrest, but we have a copy of the autopsy and it turns out the cause was stated as cerebral edema; this is presumably due to problems with anesthesia,” Mr Reyes told the press.
