Wildelis Rosa died mere days after undergoing a Brazilian butt lift, which experts call one of the riskiest procedures a person can have. 

The police officer and Army reservist had planned the surgery as a special birthday gift to herself. After returning from Kuwait, she had the procedure done in March 2025.

Rosa, 26, who is originally from New Orleans, decided to have the surgery in Miami. The prices for the procedure in Miami are more budget-friendly compared to other cities, and there is an abundance of clinics with top-notch plastic surgeons.

Every year, around 30,000 women in the United States opt for a Brazilian Butt Lift (BBL) to achieve a curvaceous figure similar to that of the Kardashians, featuring a small waist and shapely hips and buttocks.

Despite their popularity, BBLs carry the highest complication rates of all plastic surgeries, with one in 3,000 patients dying of lung failure as a result of fat accidentally being injected into a vein, infection or sepsis, and blood loss.

Rosa’s recovery took a turn just days after the surgery. Her blood pressure dropped, and she was having trouble breathing.

Three days after the operation, she collapsed in her bathroom and was found unresponsive. CPR attempts failed, and she was pronounced dead the next morning.

While Rosa died in March of a severe blood clot that had traveled to her lungs, her death was only reported this week by her family. 

Originally from New Orleans, Wildelis Rosa, 26, went to Miami for the surgery in March. She died of a blood clot that had traveled to her lung that same week

Rosa, who aspired to work for the FBI, paid roughly $7,500 for the procedure, in which fat is liposuctioned from the abdomen, lower back, or other fatty areas of the body and injected into the buttocks to enlarge and shape them.

Doctors removed fat from 12 areas around her body, according to local reporting.

The price she paid falls within the standard price range for such a procedure in Miami, where it typically costs between $3,000 and $15,000, depending on the surgeon.

One of her four older siblings, Anamin Vazquez, knew she had gone to Miami but only learned about the surgery after it had happened.

She said: ‘We had just that feeling in our guts, like something was wrong.

‘I texted her and said, “I hope you’re doing okay, you’re enjoying your birthday.” But there was no answer back.’

Rosa’s family did not find out about the surgery until three days after the fact, when Rosa collapsed. By the following morning, she was dead.

Some estimates suggest that Miami-Dade County surgeons perform between 15,000 and 18,000 BBLs per year, the most in the country.

Rosa, who aspired to work for the FBI, paid roughly $7,500 for the procedure, which falls within a typical price range

Fat is first harvested from the hips, lower back, abdomen, thighs and other areas via liposuction. Special equipment is used to prepare it for transfer before it is injected directly into the glutes at specific points, giving the buttocks a bigger, curvier appearance

However, complications can still arise, even in procedures performed by the best plastic surgeons.

The surgery is technically challenging, involving careful liposuction and strategic fat transfer that avoids injecting the fat into a vein, where it can then travel to other organs.

According to her friend, Rosa was discharged from the plastic surgery clinic to her short-term rental about an hour after the procedure on March 18, a Tuesday.

When she went for a massage on Friday, Rosa was pale, with dilated pupils, and her lips were purple, according to her friend, who added that Rosa later complained of having no sensation in her legs or feet.

At a follow-up appointment the next day, she complained of extreme pain and a loss of sensation in her legs and feet.

‘Things took a turn Saturday. That’s when she fell,’ Vasquez said. ‘She went to the bathroom, and she fell down.’

The medical examiner ruled Rosa’s death the following day an accident and not the result of medical neglect.

When South Florida’s NBC News affiliate contacted the clinic Rosa went to and a representative said they did not recall her case. They did not answer specific questions, but stated that they follow all protocols for safety before and after procedures. 

About 63,400 butt augmentations, including fat injections, fillers, and implants, were performed in the US in 2021, up from 45,000 the year prior, according to the Aesthetic Society, a professional organization and advocacy group for board-certified plastic surgeons.

Vazquez said: ‘I want her death to be, if anything, a cautionary tale for those who are thinking of having these surgeries.’