An Instagram model, who was trying to achieve a body like Kim Kardashian’s, passed away after plastic surgeons allegedly “botched” her butt surgery.

Joselyn Cano (Photo Credit: Instagram)
Joselyn Cano, a 29-year-old Instagram influencer and swimwear designer, reportedly died following a botched operation. Although Cano’s family did not initially confirm the model’s death, fans became aware of her tragic passing when her funeral was uploaded to YouTube by Akes Family Funeral Home in Riverside, California, about an hour from Newport Beach, where Cano resided, the NY Post reported.

The footage of the funeral showed Joselyn Cano’s bereaved family members paying their respects and mourning the loss of the young celebrity, whose remains were in a casket along with a large picture of her.

The funeral of Joselyn Cano was uploaded to YouTube by the funeral home. (Photo Credit: Screenshot)
According to Joselyn Cano’s LinkedIn profile, she studied microbiology at San Diego State University before becoming a successful social media influencer and model. At the time of her death, she had a booming swim line called “Joselyn Cano Swimwear” and boasted a following of nearly 13 million fans on Instagram alone, The Sun reported.

The model’s death came as quite a shock to people on social media, including her fellow influencers and models. “Omg Joselyn Cano died in Colombia getting surgery, that’s wild,” fellow model Lira Mercer wrote on Twitter, breaking the news of Cano’s death to shocked fans. “She looked so good already wow prayers for her family she was so sweet,” Mercer added in a follow-up tweet.

Cano, who had already been dubbed the “Mexican Kim Kardashian,” had reportedly traveled to Colombia just before her passing. While in Colombia, Cano allegedly underwent a Brazilian butt lift, or BBL, a type of plastic surgery that involves removing excess fat from one area of the body and injecting it into the buttocks for a fuller derriere.

Brazilian butt lift surgery is one of the fastest-growing cosmetic procedures in the US, even though it is “the world’s most dangerous cosmetic procedure,” with 1 in 3,000 people who get the procedure dying from it, according to The Guardian. Sadly, that’s a gamble some women are willing to take as they strive for the perfect peach-shaped bottom to rival those of Kim Kardashian, Jennifer Lopez, and Nicki Minaj.

Death occurs after a Brazilian butt lift when the fat that is injected into the body enters the bloodstream and blocks blood vessels after surgeons unknowingly inject fat too deep into the patient’s glutes, penetrating the muscle, which could cause a fatal pulmonary embolism. It is hands-down the riskiest cosmetic procedure one can undergo, with the highest mortality rate of any plastic surgery, according to the New York Times.

Sadly, even with the risks, many women are undaunted. So much so, the procedure saw a staggering 252% increase in BBL procedures from 2000 to 2015, according to statistics from the American Society of Plastic Surgeons. The growing popularity, combined with the high mortality rate, has been a cause for concern and caution for years.

In 2018, The British Association of Aesthetic and Plastic Surgery advised surgeons in the United Kingdom to stop performing it altogether. The result? “It didn’t matter: Women would travel to Turkey or South America for the surgery, where it was significantly cheaper,” NYT reported.

A reported increase in deaths related to the procedure in 2022 prompted the Florida Board of Medicine to mandate surgeons to make changes, according to NBC 6. One way to prevent deaths related to the procedure is by using an ultrasound machine while performing these surgeries, so the board approved an emergency order mandating the use of ultrasound during BBL surgeries.

The problem is that women often travel outside of the US for such procedures because it’s cheaper. However, such safety guidelines may not be utilized in other countries. Because of these facts and statistics, some had zero sympathy for Joselyn Cano. “Her own fault,” one critic wrote on social media. “This false ideal of beauty will cost also the lives of many others. And seriously….. that looks like shit.”

Regardless of how one thinks the results of a Brazilian butt lift may look, the fact remains that it’s risky. This is information that those who are considering such a procedure need to know. Is a larger backside really worth risking one’s life? Perhaps embracing the backside we can achieve through diet and exercise is a better, healthier, and safer option. If that’s not enough, be sure the surgeon you choose is board-certified and uses the safest methods available. Oftentimes, cheaper does not mean better.