A mother out of Biloxi, Mississippi, died after receiving low-cost weight loss surgery in Tijuana, Mexico. Now, one plastic surgeon is warning other women to steer clear from receiving cheap cosmetic enhancements in other countries.
Thirty-four-year-old Markita ‘Kiki’ McIntyre lost her life while undergoing sleeve gastrectomy surgery to have 80% of her stomach removed, WLOX reports. Her friend Francesca Moultrie was also set to receive the tummy tuck procedure but changed her mind at the last minute.
“I talked to my friend throughout the entire process,” Moultrie recalled. “We talked every day, and she was asking questions every day in the group, so she was very knowledgeable.”
She said her friend sound fine when she spoke to her hours before the surgery.
“I asked her how she was doing and she said she was ok,” Moultrie said. “I had posted something on Facebook and she laughed at it. I was going to talk to her after surgery around 2 or 3 p.m.”
However, by 5 p.m., Moultrie received a call from her husband telling her that McIntyre had passed away.
“It was very devastating,” Moultrie said. “I just want to be a voice for these women about surgeries. Y’all are getting these surgeries and they are not healthy, and they’re not good for your body. Don’t do it. It was a wake-up call.”
Now one plastic surgeon out of Mississippi is urging women to avoid going out of the country to receive plastic surgery that could potentially cost them their lives.
“Highly stop and rethink your options,” said Dr. Donald Balder, certified general surgeon and founder of the Mississippi Institute of Weight Loss Surgery in Gulfport. “We go and buy a car and we finance, and we don’t really rethink twice about financing it, right? But you’re going to go to another country, that might talk a different language, and you’re going to trust someone to do a surgery for a couple thousand dollars when you can finance your body for $10,000 or 12,0000, so I think they need to give it a second thought.”