Eighteen-year old Linda Perez of Miami, Fla. is now fighting for her life after her heart stopped during breast augmentation surgery, CBS4 reports, her family members having been told that she was "effectively" dead and in a vegetative state after reaching the emergency room.
"We are hurting for our daughter," Fernando Izquierdo, Perez's father, said to CBS4. "We're going through a terrible time. It's very sad."
Perez had her plastic surgery performed by Dr. Jacob Freiman, who has no complaints or any disciplinary infractions from the medical board. But her performing anesthesiologist, Dr. Mario Alberto Diaz, has a much darker, criminal past, and is not in fact board certified.
In 2006, Diaz was sentenced to a year and a life in federal prison after illegally dispensing about 70,000 doses of controlled pain pill substances "for no legitimate medical purpose," according to documents CBS obtained from state medical regulators and federal courts. After serving his prison sentence, Diaz had his medical license suspended for six months.
Despite the fact that he may be partially responsible for the state of Linda Perez, her grief-stricken family's current focus is on her recovery, though according to the Daily Mail, they have demanded an investigation into the surgery gone wrong.
"A young girl so full of life, healthy, and now she's just thrown in bed, like a vegetable. It's sad. It's sad," Izquierdo said of his daughter. "She went to get her breast done. She entered the clinic, and she came out worse than ever. [The doctors] just ruined our daughter's life and this isn't even compared to the pain we are feeling."
"Hopefully, God will save her," Perez's mother, Mariela Diaz said to CBS4. "We are grateful for all the prayers. My daughter is a very beautiful, very loving girl."
The surgery was performed at the Coral Gables Cosmetic Center, and Kubs Lalchandani, the center's attorney, issued a statement claiming that the facility is "is committed to upholding the highest standards of medical care and patient safety," but due to privacy reasons, the center "cannot comment on any medical issues related to...patients."
According to Perez's father, Izquierdo, the facility will not release any information about what happened during the procedure, so the family remains in the dark about what might have gone wrong.
Perez has a three-year old son, and did plenty of research before electing to go under the knife at the facility. Her family continues to press for reasons as to why their healthy daughter is now in a coma, though there is no word yet on whether or not they will press charges or sue for malpratice.
Click here to see photos of Linda Perez, the young woman and mother currently fighting for her live in a vegetative state, as well as pictures of the doctors who performed her surgery.
