The family of a woman who died after getting plastic surgery in Colombia is still trying to find out what happened.
Adriana Leon, 21, of West Springfield, Virginia, had lost 100 pounds through diet and exercise and went to Colombia for skin removal surgery.
“So Adriana had been talking about this for a while and she did her research,” said her mother, Paola Wilkins. “You know, although I was against it, eventually I came to terms that I didn’t want to be fighting with my daughter.”
Leon went to Colombia on her own to have the surgery. She died the next day.
“It’s very difficult, because you want answers,” Wilkins said. “So I guess the main goal is now that we’ve got her here, that she’s coming, is to get the answers that we’re looking for.”
Wilkins returned Friday evening after flying to Columbia to find out what happened to her daughter and to have her body returned for burial.
An attorney with the clinic where the surgery was performed said Leon was OK when she was released to a recovery center.
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An investigation is underway to find out what went wrong. Authorities in Colombia are inspecting the clinic and the recovery center.
Wilkins wants this to be a lesson for other women who are considering these types of surgeries.
“I want them to take extra steps and, you know, make it a little more difficult for these types of things to take place out there,” Wilkins said. “It’s a little too easy.”
