{"id":44563,"date":"2026-04-08T07:39:11","date_gmt":"2026-04-08T07:39:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/?p=44563"},"modified":"2026-04-08T07:39:11","modified_gmt":"2026-04-08T07:39:11","slug":"model-dies-from-illegal-liquid-bbl-what-to-know-about-the-risky-procedure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/?p=44563","title":{"rendered":"Model dies from illegal &#8216;liquid BBL&#8217; \u2014 what to know about the risky procedure"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<br \/><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Going under the table below the belt?<\/p>\n<p>The infamous \u201cliquid BBL\u201d procedure that killed an OnlyFans model and Kim Kardashian-lookalike in 2023 is back in the spotlight this month, as the Florida woman who administered the lethal injection was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/miami\/news\/christina-gourkani-death-kim-kardashian-lookalike-florida-cosmetologist-convicted-california\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">convicted in March<\/a> of felony involuntary manslaughter and practicing medicine without a license.<\/p>\n<p>According to the San Mateo County District Attorney\u2019s Office, 34-year-old Christina Ashten Gourkani \u2014 once known to her more than <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/Ashtens_Empire\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">600,000 Instagram followers<\/a> as Ashten G. \u2014 died shortly after receiving an illegal silicone injection in her glutes.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Christina Ashten Gourkani, who died at age 34, was known to her hundreds of thousands of Instagram followers as Ashten. <span class=\"credit\">Jam Press<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>It\u2019s a process rap superstar Cardi B is intimately familiar with, as well.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The Bronx-native hasn\u2019t been shy about having dabbled in illegal butt injections herself, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gq.com\/story\/cardi-b-invasion-of-privacy-profile\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">telling GQ in 2018<\/a>: \u201cIt was the craziest pain ever. I felt like I was gonna pass out. I felt a little dizzy. And it leaks for, like, five days.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She wanted to go back for a \u201ctouch-up,\u201d but \u201cby the time I was gonna go get it, the lady got locked up \u2019cause she\u2019s supposedly killed somebody,\u201d Cardi told GQ. \u201cWell, somebody died on her table.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In a similarly twisted turn of events, after a 15-day trial earlier this year, a California jury found 53-year-old Vivian Alexandra Gomez of Royal Palm Beach guilty in the death of Gourkani, who had allegedly hired Gomez to perform the procedure at the Burlingame Marriott hotel outside San Francisco on April 19, 2023.\u00a0<\/p>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module aligncenter wp-block-nypost-editor-primary-tag\">\n<\/aside>\n<p>Shortly after Gomez concluded, prosecutors said Gourkani became noticeably ill and was rushed to a nearby hospital alongside her fianc\u00e9.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The next day, the model died of respiratory failure and a pulmonary embolism, according to CBS News. Almost three years later, Gomez could now be sentenced to seven years in state prison.<\/p>\n<p>Not all BBLs \u2014 shorthand for Brazilian Butt Lifts \u2014 are created equal, and some are safer than others.\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Rapper Cardi B has said that her illegal butt injections were immensely painful. <span class=\"credit\">Kevin Mazur\/Getty Images for Live Nation<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The more invasive version of the BBL involves a liposuction surgery to transfer fat from another part of the body to the butt. In the case of Cardi \u2014\u00a0who felt she needed a fatter ass to earn more money as a stripper but claimed she wasn\u2019t a candidate for the lipo because at the time she \u201cdid not have enough meat\u201d on her body \u2014 the injectable was her only option.<\/p>\n<p>While silicone injections are prohibited by the FDA, patients can receive approved liquid BBLs administered by licensed medical professionals that may contain hyaluronic acid or collagen. The results from similar fillers <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/reels\/DT3qvrFkbL_\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">only last a couple of years max<\/a>, but complications are less likely.<\/p>\n<p>As of 2017, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fda.gov\/medical-devices\/aesthetic-cosmetic-devices\/fda-approved-dermal-fillers\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">FDA prohibited all silicone injections<\/a> anywhere in the body with one exception (a specific eye procedure).\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Scott Gottlieb, MD, the FDA Commissioner at the time, said, \u201cWe\u2019ve seen serious adverse events result from products, which are sometimes industrial-grade silicone, being used for these unapproved medical purposes\u201d like enlarging one\u2019s \u201cbuttocks, breasts and other body parts.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Vivian Alexandra Gomez, 53, of Royal Palm Beach, was found guilty in March of the involuntary manslaughter of OnlyFans model Gourkani in 2023. <span class=\"credit\">NBC Bay Area<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Breast implants that use silicone are legal because they\u2019re encased in an \u201cimplant shell\u201d that \u201ckeeps the silicone from migrating within the body.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Injectable silicone, on the other hand, can migrate beyond the injection site with potentially fatal consequences including stroke, infections and, in the case of Gourkani, embolism and death.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSerious complications may occur right away or could develop weeks, months or years later,\u201d according to the FDA.<\/p>\n<p>In a statement following Gourkani\u2019s death, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcbayarea.com\/video\/news\/national-international\/kim-kardashian-lookalike-christina-ashten-gourkani-cause-of-death-revealed\/3224386\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Kardashian-lookalike\u2019s family shared<\/a> that at around 4:30 a.m. on April 20, they received a \u201ctragic phone call from a family member who was frantically screaming and crying hysterically on the other line. \u2018Ashten is dying, Ashten is dying.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Her family members remembered Gourkani for her \u201ccaring and loving free spirit.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe had such a gift for connecting with people,\u201d they said in the statement.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/04\/07\/health\/model-dies-from-illegal-liquid-bbl-what-to-know-about-the-risky-procedure\/\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Going under the table below the belt? The infamous \u201cliquid BBL\u201d procedure that killed an OnlyFans model and Kim Kardashian-lookalike in 2023 is back in the&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":44564,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[42],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-44563","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health-wellness"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44563","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=44563"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44563\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/44564"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=44563"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=44563"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=44563"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}