Teenage Cheerleader Dies from Breast Augmentation

March 26th, 2008

stephanie.jpg

This is so sad, y’all! I just got back from two weeks in India and I had all sorts of fun blog posts planned…but this story just hurt my heart so much that I had to share ASAP. This sentence from the article I read sums up last week’s tragedy well:

“West Boca Raton High School senior Stephanie Kuleba was the captain of the varsity cheerleading team who was fielding scholarship offers from Tulane University, Florida State University and the University of Florida. But her life was cut short Saturday after she suffered a fatal reaction to anesthesia while undergoing breast augmentation surgery.”

Allegedly, along with implants, Stephanie wanted to correct an inverted nipple, which, as I say in Body Drama, 10% of women have and correction does NOT require surgery (tips for everting an inverted nipple are on page 96). I wish she had just learned to accept her body, flaws and all, before undergoing such dangerous surgery. Cosmetic surgery isn’t a spa treatment - there are serious risks involved. In every 5,224 liposuction surgeries, one individual dies. Obviously, fataility rates for procedures like breast augmentation aren’t zero percent, either — Stephanie had a fatal reaction to the anesthesia they gave her during the procedure.

Scarily, she might not be the only teen fatality this year. The number of women getting implants is increasing while the age of the patient is decreasing. As I say in pages 236-239 of Body Drama, more than 300,000 cosmetic procedures are performed on people ages eighteen or younger each year!

Stephanie, you were beautiful just as you were. Hopefully your experience will help other young women appreciate their bodies as-is. RIP, Stephanie, and my prayers to family and friends during this hard time.

Tagged as Body News
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2 Responses to “Teenage Cheerleader Dies from Breast Augmentation”

  1. Bob Says:
    March 27th, 2008 at 4:19 pm

    From the website article you linked to,
    “”Her main purpose for having this procedure done was to fix those type of defects and was not solely for the purposes of enhancement,” said Stanziale.

    The procedure was done in a doctor’s surgical clinic, not a hospital. According to Stanziale, nearly two hours into the surgery Kuleba suffered a reaction to the anesthesia called “malignant hyperthermia.” which is caused by a rare genetic disorder. It caused her heart rate and body temperature to soar.”

    Maybe you should read what you link to.

  2. MizFit Says:
    March 30th, 2008 at 7:43 am

    there are no other words for this than it simply made my heart ache.

    for all involved.

    and revow never to let my daughter feel as if she isnt enough just the way she is.

    proud owner of some tiny almostBcups :),

    MizFit

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