Celebrity butt-lift injector who left women with sepsis exposed by BBC

A self-styled "beauty consultant", whose personage lawsuit database includes Katie Price, is offering perchance unsafe cosmetic procedures to clients and handing implicit medicine illegally - a BBC probe has discovered.

Ricky Sawyer specialises successful liquid Brazilian butt-lifts (BBLs) - which involves injecting dermal filler into buttocks to assistance them and marque them look bigger.

BBC News has spoken to 5 of his clients who needed exigency infirmary attraction aft their procedures. We person besides been shown the testimonies of much than 30 women who accidental they person been near with superior complications specified arsenic sepsis and necrosis (tissue death).

One pistillate told america she felt astatine the clip she would alternatively "have died" than proceed with the symptom she was successful pursuing the treatment.

Several section authorities person banned Mr Sawyer from practising successful their areas.

Our undercover filming captured Mr Sawyer handing retired antibiotics without a valid medicine - a transgression offence. He is not qualified to prescribe and the pills were not labelled for a circumstantial patient.

He besides offered to inject expanding doses of section anaesthetic without a prescriber contiguous - again amerciable - and did not inquire for our reporter's weight, frankincense putting her astatine hazard of an overdose.

Posing arsenic a imaginable lawsuit and her friend, we had booked a 45-minute assignment with Mr Sawyer done his Instagram page. We told him we wanted a 200ml (7fl oz) liquid BBL injection costing £1,200. We paid a £200 deposit.

Despite having advertised that each liquid BBLs would beryllium carried retired nether the guidance of an "ultrasound specializer doctor", nary was contiguous astatine his pop-up clinic. He was moving retired of a tiny country successful an eastbound London bureau artifact - a non-clinical situation which would person accrued the hazard of infection.

Within 5 minutes of being successful his office, Mr Sawyer had begun to promote our newsman to deliberation astir expanding the magnitude of filler. "You mightiness beryllium amazed astir however overmuch merchandise you tin person and inactive look natural," helium suggested.

By the extremity of the appointment, Mr Sawyer had offered to inject a litre of filler - 500ml (almost a pint) per buttock - astatine a outgo of £2,000.

We did not spell done with it and aboriginal returned to enactment our allegations to him - but helium refused to reply our questions and slammed the doorway connected our reporter.

Reviewing our footage, integrative surgeon Dalvi Humzah, who sits connected the Joint Committee of Cosmetic Practitioners, said Mr Sawyer's actions were "shocking", "very dangerous", and putting patients astatine a immense hazard of corruption and perchance fatal complications.

"Putting that measurement in, successful 1 sitting, is truly dangerous," said Mr Humzah. "The buttocks are specified a ample country that if they go infected it tin overwhelm the assemblage and could extremity successful sepsis - oregon adjacent death."

The filler utilized for liquid BBLs is often made up of hyaluronic acid, which is commonly utilized successful facial filling treatments. Because ample amounts of the acerb are progressive successful BBLs, and determination is simply a hazard of superior broadside effects specified arsenic humor clots and sepsis, it is regarded arsenic 1 of the astir unsafe cosmetic procedures.

Mr Sawyer boasted connected camera that helium did up to 7 procedures a day, six days a week. He tin complaint thousands of pounds per appointment.

One of the women who said she had experienced superior complications aft receiving a liquid BBL from Mr Sawyer was Joanne. A mum of 2 from southbound Wales, who lone wants america to usage her archetypal name, she travelled 7 hours to Essex for the treatment.

Having had different cosmetic treatments earlier and having been persuaded by Ricky Sawyer's galore adverts and personage endorsements, a liquid BBL didn't look similar specified a large measurement to her.

All she wanted, she says, was a "peachy bum".

But erstwhile Joanne arrived, she began to person 2nd thoughts.

She had lone been sent a postcode and says she seemed to beryllium walking into an concern estate.

In the end, she recovered a tiny doorway into a artifact of flats and says she was told to hold successful a "dingy small hallway" for astir fractional an hour.

"I should person turned and ran," she says, "but I had paid £600 deposit and travelled each this way."

She was taken into a tiny country wherever determination "was lone a bed, a tiny stool and a worktop", and that is wherever she says she archetypal met Ricky Sawyer.

After counting retired the remainder of her currency - £2,000 successful full - she says helium told her to basal successful beforehand of him portion helium sat connected the stool.

As helium started to inject her with a litre (1.8 pints) of filler, the symptom rapidly became unbearable.

"I felt dizzy, sick and similar shaky. My legs didn't adjacent determination properly. And that was each wrong a infinitesimal of him starting," she says. "I retrieve looking circular and helium had achromatic gloves connected that were afloat of blood."

By the extremity of the procedure, Joanne was successful agony: "I was successful truthful overmuch pain, my bottommost was wholly disfigured."

She says she could hardly beryllium down. By the clip she got location the swelling had started and she could hardly walk.

"I messaged Ricky loads of times to accidental however atrocious I was feeling and however disquieted I was. He conscionable told maine to instrumentality my antibiotics."

By this point, sepsis had begun to acceptable in.

"My somesthesia kept connected going up and I felt terrible," says Joanne. "I had to telephone 999. I was dripping with sweat and screaming."

In hospital, she was attached to intravenous antibiotics. At 1 point, a surgeon drew connected her buttock to bespeak wherever they mightiness request to cut, due to the fact that the corruption was spreading truthful quickly.

After messaging Ricky Sawyer saying she was successful infirmary with sepsis, she says helium blocked her from his Instagram account.

Fortunately, Joanne did not request an operation.

Another of Mr Sawyer's clients, Louise Moller, did request life-saving exigency surgery.

Four days aft receiving a liquid BBL astatine his Essex session successful October 2023, the 28-year-old from Bolton was successful hospital.

She rang her mother, Janet, from Salford Royal's A&E section saying: "Mum, I deliberation I'm going to die."

Louise had contracted sepsis and was warned by surgeons that she could dice astatine immoderate minute. To halt the corruption from moving done her body, they chopped dormant insubstantial retired of an country astir covering her full near buttock.

Janet promised her girl she would forestall this from happening to anyone other and reported Ricky Sawyer to their section constabulary presumption successful Bolton.

"How tin helium transportation connected knowing helium could termination someone?" she told the BBC.

However, Louise's lawsuit highlights the trouble successful holding practitioners similar him accountable.

Janet says she was told by constabulary successful Bolton that the record would request to beryllium passed to Essex Police, wherever the incidental happened.

A prosecution could beryllium hard however, she was warned, due to the fact that Louise had signed a consent form.

BBC News has approached some Greater Manchester Police and Essex Police to get an update connected the lawsuit - some person said it is down to the different to investigate.

From a ineligible constituent of view, determination is small to halt Mr Sawyer from practising.

Injecting dermal fillers is seen arsenic non-surgical and is unregulated, which means anyone tin bash it - and they can't beryllium struck disconnected and stopped.

In September 2024, Alice Webb is believed to person go the archetypal idiosyncratic to dice aft receiving a liquid BBL successful the UK. Her process was not carried retired by Ricky Sawyer.

Following her death, Save Face - a radical that campaigns for greater regularisation to screen non-surgical procedures - called for a caller instrumentality banning liquid BBLs from being carried retired by anyone different than surgeons registered with the General Medical Council (GMC).

Save Face's founder, Ashton Collins, says her organisation has received complaints from 39 women astir Ricky Sawyer.

All the women, she says, person told her they person been near needing urgent infirmary treatment. Each of them, she says, had a BBL and suffered complications specified arsenic sepsis, necrosis and disfigurement.

"We've encouraged these women to study their experiences to the police," she says. "Some have, and thing has been done."

So far, the astir effectual enactment has been taken by section authorities, 3 of which - Glasgow City Council, Epping Forest District Council and Brentwood Council - confirmed they had issued prohibition notices nether Health and Safety instrumentality to support the nationalist from superior injury.

But "he conscionable moves connected to antithetic areas of the state and carries on", says Ms Collins.

We enactment our grounds to the Department of Health and Social Care which said it was "urgently looking astatine options for tougher regulation".

It said our findings were "shocking" and that those caught "dispensing medicine without a licence should consciousness the afloat unit of the law".

We attempted to enactment our allegations to Ricky Sawyer successful person, by confronting him astatine his eastbound London clinic.

As soon arsenic helium saw the camera helium tried to slam the doorway connected us, earlier hiding down it.

We asked him if helium was breaking the instrumentality by handing retired prescription-only medicine, and if helium had thing to accidental to the women who accidental they were near with specified superior injuries that they needed exigency care.

"No," helium said - and told america to leave.

The dangers of unregulated cosmetic country should beryllium taken acold much seriously, says Ashton Collins.

"The wide vibe that you prime up is that these are silly women that person made silly choices, driven done vanity, and it's their ain fault."

It is an cognition that needs to change, she adds: "People are retired determination taking risks with people's lives, and they tin bash truthful with impunity."