A 20-year-old British student is dead after flying to Philadelphia with friends to undergo a “must-have” butt injection procedure.
In Hackney, East London, where Claudia Aderotimi was born, butt injections are illegal. They’re illegal in the U.S. too, but authorities here have done nothing to stop the unlicensed, dangerous practice.
Claudia and her friends thought it would be a simple procedure. What could go wrong? The “clinic” was in the shadow of a big city hospital — the same hospital where she was eventually pronounced dead.
But Claudia knew something went wrong hours after the operation when she felt horrible pains in her chest. She was rushed a block away to the hospital, where she died at 1.32 a.m. on Tuesday.
The “clinic” where Claudia and her friends went chasing their dreams was inside a seedy Philadelphia motel room. The unlicensed street technician is still being sought by police who are certain she didn’t use sterile technique. They are also certain she didn’t use medical grade hydrogel or silicone, which are difficult to obtain outside of a hospital setting without a doctor’s order.
Claudia had aspirations of appearing in music videos, like her idols, the video vixens who advertise their talents on Twitter.com. Claudia thought that in order to qualify to appear in rap music videos today, she must have a butt as big as Nicki’s or Esther Baxter’s or Keyshia Dior’s.
All Claudia wanted was a few injections to fill out the curves that she already had, she told friends. She thought the butt shots would make her famous, heartbroken pals say.
Like most young black women today, Claudia’s self-worth and identity are defined by a big butt and breast implants. They don’t know any better because their idols don’t know any better. It’s a vicious cycle.
Now that the eyes of the world are on the U.S., maybe Congress will take some action to put a stop to this hydrogel epidemic that is killing our beautiful black women and turning them into deformed walking mannequins.
