KELLY Crees claims to have been left with one ‘super-sized’ boob and life-threatening sepsis after a cut-price ‘boob job’ from a celebrity beauty consultant.
“I wanted him to enhance my body and instead he damaged me and botched my procedures,” the 43-year-old, said.
Kelly Crees had a cut-price ‘boob job’ from a celebrity beauty consultant[/caption]
Katie Price and her very prominent cosmetic procedures at Plymouth Pride[/caption]
But after her ops, Kelly was left with a misshapen boob riddled with sepsis[/caption]
Ricky Sawyer – who has performed procedures on Love Island stars and Katie Price – carried out a boob enhancement and BBL (brazilian butt lift) on Kelly in a private clinic.
The self-named “beauty consultant” has since been banned from carrying out cosmetic procedures across England and Wales.
Just days after the mum-of-five from Margate had cosmetic filler injected in her boobs, one started swelling dangerously to twice its size and she was rushed by ambulance to hospital with lethal blood poisoning.
Doctors saved her life by pumping her body with life-saving antibiotics to flush out the poison and reduce swelling – telling her she had been hours from death.
Medics later found ‘worrying’ hard lumps of congealed cosmetic filler in her breasts which they said required removal surgery.
Now Kelly is suing Lift Aesthetics who organised her procedures along with her beauty consultant Ricky Sawyer who carried out the botched procedures.
It comes as Ricky was banned from offering or arranging any cosmetic procedures in England and Wales until May 27, 2028, after a judge at Manchester Civil Justice Centre granted an injunction against him.
The court heard he had been carrying out risky treatments, including liquid BBLs, without medical supervision or proper regulation.
James Parry, the lawyer who brought the case on behalf of Trafford Council, told the judge that the injuries were akin to that of “serious knife crime”, the BBC reported.
“Ricky and Lift destroyed my health, confidence and trust in people,” Kelly said.
She added: “I am lucky to be alive.
“If I had been admitted a few hours later I wouldn’t be here today as I would never have woken up. My boob swelled so much it was scary.
“The only reason I booked with them was because Katie Price had posted about them on her socials so I at least thought they were legit and safe.
“I feel so foolish now I wish I had gone to a qualified surgeon.
“I will never mess with my breasts again as they are too precious. I am just surprised that Ricky hasn’t killed anyone yet.
“All they want is your money and dump you when you get sick. It’s disgusting.”
The mum spent several days in hospital with sepsis[/caption]
Mammograms revealed big congealed white deposits in her boobs[/caption]
The injunction stops Ricky from undertaking or facilitating any invasive cosmetic procedures, including but not limited to the BBL, anywhere in England and Wales.
It also bars him from possessing related surgical equipment or any antibiotics typically used in such treatments, unless prescribed for his own use.
The court attached a power of arrest to key clauses in the order, meaning police may arrest Ricky without a warrant if he is found to be in breach of its terms.
Rick has been given 21 days to challenge the injunction.
Kelly saw a series of posts on Katie Prices’ Instagram about a company called Lift Aesthetics promoting a BBL bum job she had – a practice were filler is injected in a bum to enhance its size and shape.
The doctors said I had sepsis in my boob and if I hadn’t came in when I did, I would likely have died. It was a terrifying time.
Kelly Crees
Kelly contacted the company on Instagram and paid £1600 for a double package of boob enhancement and BBL bum filler.
Her boob and bum job involved 500ml of filler (nearly a pint) being injected separately in both breasts and bum cheeks to make them appear perkier and curvier.
She added: “I messaged them and they went out of their way to be friendly and I thought I was in safe hands and was seeing a real qualified doctor.”
After paying her £400 deposit, she didn’t meet ‘Dr’ Ricky Sawyer until the day of the first procedure on November 15, 2023, in Buckhurst Hill, Essex.
She then paid the outstanding £1,200 balance in cash.
Ricky Sawyer who performed Kelly’s procedures claimed to have also treated Katie Price[/caption]
Ricky has since been banned from offering or arranging any cosmetic procedures in England and Wales until 2028[/caption]
After signing a consent form she was given some Lidocaine painkillers.
During the procedures she felt faint and nearly passed out but was assured by Ricky it was normal.
After the bum and boob filler procedures – carried out two days apart, with the boob job on November 17 — she was told antibiotics would be sent to her in the post.
Kelly, whose children are 25, 19, 17, 15 and 10, added: “They said I needed them to prevent infection but they never turned up. I messaged Lift but they kept fobbing me off saying they were in post.
“There was no real aftercare. It was as if I didn’t matter anymore as they had my cash.”
‘Terrifying time’
Two days after her last procedure, Kelly got a pain in her boob and a raging temperature.
After laying down on the sofa her temperature spiked and she was unable to walk.
On November 21, her mum called an ambulance and Kelly was rushed to hospital, where doctors warned she had life-threatening sepsis.
She added: “I was so poorly and sick and hurting all over and felt like I was on fire as I was so hot. I just wanted to sleep but may never have woken back up.
“The doctors said I had sepsis in my boob and if I hadn’t came in when I did, I would likely have died. It was a terrifying time.
“My blood pressure dropped rapidly and they said that was a sign my organs were shutting down.”
She spent the next four days in Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother (QEQM) hospital in Margate being treated and having life saving antibiotics administered by a drip.
‘Big mistake’
When she messaged Lift Aesthetics that she was in hospital with sepsis they told her it was issue for the private clinic not them.
Kelly said: “That was the first time I realised something wasn’t right. As all my dealings had been with Lift and now they were passing the buck.
“I knew then I was on my own. And had made a big mistake.”
Lift Aesthetics were referring customers like Kelly to private clinics in Essex and London where practitioner Ricky Sawyer carried out the procedures.
Kelly says she was then left with one boob bigger than the other after it swelled to nearly twice its size.
She was later referred by her NHS Doctors to a specialist internal breast clinic where mammograms revealed big congealed white deposits in her boobs.
‘More must be done to stop rogue injectors’
By Lizzie Parry, Head of Health
IT might sound less invasive, but just because liquid BBLs are ‘non-surgical’ they are no less dangerous.
Any medical procedure comes with risks.
But when those procedures are carried out by any Tom, Dick or Harry with no medical qualification at all, the risks skyrocket.
Campaign-group Save Face has warned of an “alarming increase” in the number of patients complaining of severe complications from liquid BBLs and boob jobs.
The list of nasty complications is long, sepsis, infections and abscesses that require hospital admission and often surgical interventions.
These procedures, often advertised on social media as being ‘risk-free and cheaper alternatives’ to surgery can be lethal.
In every single case of complications reported to Save Face, the ‘practitioner’ had absolutely no healthcare qualifications, not one. It’s terrifying.
These unscrupulous rogue traders, who charge on average around £2,000, are putting people’s lives at risk, while raking in the profits.
Equally as alarming is the fact that most qualified medics say they don’t offer non-surgical BBLs because they are unsafe and come with high risk of complications.
If doctors and nurses aren’t comfortable doing liquid BBLs, it should be reason enough to outlaw them.
Save Face is calling on the Government to crackdown and ban these procedures, warning more people will die if action is not taken.
It’s a crisis waiting to happen, and more must be done to ensure people seeking aesthetic treatments are safe and have access to the best possible care.
She said: “They said they had never seen anything like it. And said I would have to get a non NHS plastic surgeon to cut it out. I was really scared as I didn’t want to have deformed breasts.”
‘Kelly is lucky to be alive’
Eight months later, in June 2024, she managed to find a reputable clinic who were able to offer non-invasive injections to dissolve some of the ‘congealed’ filler instead with five sessions costing £750.
But she says she still likely has some filler left in her boobs and may still yet have to get it surgically removed in the future.
She said: “I am still living day to day with what the effects of what Ricky did to me and don’t know when that will stop, if ever. I get regular pain in my boob and under my armpit.
“It has been hell and total waste of money. It has put me off procedures for life and I will never do it again being so close to death.
“And others should think twice. And anyone should steer well clear of Lift Aesthetics and Ricky.“
Kelly is now suing Ricky Sawyer for ‘in excess of £20,000’ and sent claim letters to him and booking clinic Lift Aesthetics over her boob filler and bum procedures.
Eleanor Groves, Associate Solicitor and head of cosmetic negligence at Express Solicitors said: “Kelly is lucky to be alive. She was hours from death. We are now taking action against Lift Aesthetics and Ricky Sawyer.
“These operators, and others like them, are like the Wild West. They are using bait and switch methods with people booking with one company and then procedures carried out with another.
“Victims of botched procedures like Kelly are left with lifelong horrendous injuries and often with no comeback.
“Unfortunately serious infections like sepsis are increasingly regular outcomes for people having these type procedures.
“The Government needs to urgently regulate this industry to prevent deaths and serious injury.”
The Sun has approached Ricky Sawyer for comment at new company Clinic Club which uses the same WhatsApp number as Lift Aesthetics previously used to communicate with clients.
What are Brazilian Butt Lifts and why are they so popular?
Buttock enlargement surgery – known as a Brazilian butt-lift (BBL) – is used to make the bum look bigger, rounded and lifted.
Surgeons transfer fat, inject filler or insert silicone-filled implants.
It is the fastest growing cosmetic procedure but also one of the most dangerous, according to the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (BAAPS).
Many patients are travelling to the likes of Turkey or seeking out unregistered surgeons in the UK and are not given full information on the risks.
BBLs carry the highest risk of all cosmetic surgeries – with more than one death occurring per 4,000 procedures.
Due to celebrities undergoing such ops, many women are hoping to emulate their looks.
Consultant clinical psychologist Dr Anu Sayal-Bennett, a chartered member of the British Psychological Society, told the BBC: “Despite there being so much about body positivity, there are pressures for women – and men too – to look a certain way.”
Many people travel abroad for the procedure because it is cheaper and advertising is “terribly seductive”, combined with the idea of a beach holiday, added Dr Sayal-Bennett.
