Woman Flies to Mexico for Plastic Surgery, Leaves in a Coma

A Texas woman lies in a coma, on the edge of life, after a botched plastic surgery procedure left her with severe brain damage.

Laura Avila, of Dallas, Texas, traveled with her fiancé across the Mexican border to Ciudad Juarez on Oct. 30.

Avila wanted to get plastic surgery to alter the shape of her nose, and the prices south of the border were much lower than stateside.

“The price you know, comparing process to the ones in the U.S. it was less than one-third of it,” her sister, Angie Avila, told WFAA.

While her fiancé Enrique Cruz sat in the waiting room, Avila was wheeled into the operating theater. Cruz sat there for eight hours, waiting for his financée to come out of surgery.

At first, clinic staff told Cruz that her blood pressure was too low to operate.

“I was really concerned and I got upset, because they wouldn’t let me see her,” Cruz told WFAA.

Finally, clinic staff admitted that something had gone very, very wrong.    

Error With Anesthesia

According to a GoFundMe page created by family members, Avila suffered cardiac arrest less than four minutes after entering the operating theater.

“They injected anesthesia to her spine at the clinic and instead of it flowing down her body it went to her brain, which caused severe swelling,” Angie Avila explained.

In order to prevent further brain damage, Laura Avila was placed in a medical coma.

She was transferred to the intensive care unit of a Mexican hospital, where it became apparent that she had suffered significant brain damage.

Meanwhile, the clinic refused to release her or sign transfer papers because she and her fiancé had not paid the entire bill for the botched procedure.

Cruz said an employee administered an anesthetic around noon. Clinic staff told Cruz that her blood pressure was too low to operate.    

Her sister Angie told WFAA, “The hospital in Mexico basically held us hostage because we wouldn’t pay the full amount.”

Eventually the clinic signed transfer forms and Laura Avila was taken by ambulance to a hospital in El Paso, Texas. There, the family was given the bad news.

“They told us that she suffered severe brain damage, so much so that she will never be our Laura again,” Angie Avila said.

Avila is currently being kept alive by medical machinery. The hospital staff has given the family the options of removing life support to see if Avila can survive on her own, or having the staff insert feeding and breathing tubes.

“They told us she would never be able to walk or eat for herself again or speak,” Angie Avila told WFAA.

Clinic Dodges Responsibility

To compound the initial offense, the clinic refused to release Avila’s medical records. Those records might help doctors stateside figure out better treatment for Avila, but the clinic is refusing to cooperate.

The family has hired a lawyer to try to get the records. Angie Avila said she fears the clinic staff will alter the records to hide evidence of their mistakes, which will lessen the value of those records to assist in Avila’s treatment.

The family has tried to get Avila transferred to a hospital in her home town of Dallas, but so far three hospitals have rejected her because she doesn’t have insurance.

“Right now we are praying for a miracle. Really we want a second opinion,” said her fiancé.

‘Assist Us in Any Way You Can’

While the family’s attorney, Larry Friedman, tries to maneuver between the legal codes of two different countries in an effort to hold the clinic accountable for what it did, Avila’s medical bills continue to climb.

Because Avila is in a hospital in El Paso, nearly 600 miles from the family home in Dallas, her parents and her fiancé have been spending their own money on plane tickets to fly out to see her, even though she is not aware of them. Avila’s parents and her fiancé are taking time off work to spend time with her.    

“It is with a heavy heart that I request your prayers and assistance in this great time of need,” Angie Avila states on Laura’s GoFundMe page.

“For those who cannot financially assist us, I implore you to please pray for her speedy recovery. If you know or have met Laura, you know she gives us all life. Laura exudes love, life, laughter, joy, selflessness, enlightenment, passion, friendship, loyalty, forgiveness, wisdom, and so much more,” her sister wrote.

“All I ask is that you keep her in your prayers and assist us in any way you can,” she continued.