“Botched bum surgery left me without limbs”

Apryl Brown resorted to back-street surgery for a bigger bum and the consequences were devastating

When Apryl Brown had surgery to boost her bum, she hoped she’d end up with a figure to rival J-lo’s. Instead, she was left a quadriplegic and had to have her hands, feet and buttocks removed after she was unwittingly injected with bathroom sealant by a backstreet surgeon.

The mum-of-two had a horrific allergic reaction and her limbs turned gangrenous. She now has prosthetic limbs and uses a wheelchair.

Apryl said: “I’m sharing my story to warn others about ‘quick fix’ surgeries. I thought a harmless injection would give me a perfect bottom. But the silicone used wasn’t suitable for humans. I’ve paid a terrible price for vanity and I’ll pay for the rest of my life. But I blame no one but myself.”

A DISASTROUS DECISION

Former hairdresser Apryl, from LA, had always been teased about her “pancake” bum by peers and was determined to buy a shapelier posterior. In 2004, she heard about “pumping parties” at her salon, where unqualified practitioners inject illegal silicone into patients at home.

She said: “[One of the women] showed me the work she’d had done and it looked great.”

But Apryl’s decision nearly cost her her life. The woman who carried out the £650 surgery had no medical background and injected industrial-grade silicone.

Apryl revealed: “I didn’t do any research. Naivety, misplaced trust and insecurity led me to a disastrous decision. The woman carried out the procedure in her daughter’s bedroom and the first session took an hour. I remember asking: ‘Is it meant to be so painful?’”

Over the next two years, Apryl’s bum went hard and blackened. She was in constant pain and, after several visits to surgeons, she was forced to have her limbs amputated in February 2011. Shockingly, doctors put her in an induced coma for two months while performing 27 surgeries and extensive skin grafts.

REBUILDING HER LIFE

Apryl said: “I had dark times – I’d lost my hands and feet. I was overwhelmed by shame and guilt.”

Since the surgery, Apryl – who has two daughters – has learnt to get around using prosthetic limbs and has even completed a triathlon. She said: “I built up to training six days a week, learning to walk, cycle, then swim using my prosthetic limbs. I told myself if I could do a triathlon I could do anything. I’d be crying in pain, but I pushed through it.

“I’ll never do my girls’ hair or feel sand between my toes again, but I survived to warn others of the dangers of blackmarket surgery.”