WEST MIAMI-DADE, FLA. (WSVN) – A family in mourning is demanding answers after their loved one died while undergoing surgery at a South Florida cosmetic center.
Richard Graves said the staff at West Dade Surgery Center withheld the tragic news from him after paramedics rushed his wife to Kendall Regional Medical Center, Thursday.
“They brought her in, but you know, she was dead when they got here,” said Graves. “I said, ‘They didn’t tell me that. They told me she was all right.’”
Forty-year-old Kizzy London came to South Florida from Louisiana to undergo a Brazilian butt lift at the West Miami-Dade facility, but something went wrong while under the knife.
Graves addressed those at the clinic directly. “All this time, the police was out here, and you didn’t call me then, when all this was going on,” he said. “You waited till she got to the hospital, and then you called me and told me she was in there, and then you told me she was gonna be all right.”
Officials said London went into cardiac arrest on the operating table at the cosmetic center, located in a shopping center along the 8500 block of Southwest Eighth Street.
The doctor performing the procedure on London, Dr. Arnaldo Valls, released a statement to 7News that read in part, “All standard pre-operative procedures were administered. The patient developed cardiac arrest towards the end of the operation, and immediate resuscitation efforts were taken, followed by a call to 911. The paramedics arrived and the patient was transferred to a nearby hospital.”
“I didn’t come up here to bring her back in a box,” said Graves.
London’s family flew in from Louisiana on Friday. They went straight to the surgery center, and they’re demanding answers.
“People are still coming here for procedures,” said Lakesha London, the patient’s sister-in-law. “One girl leaving, I saw, with blood all over the back of her dress. It’s just ridiculous.”
Graves said his wife had been researching a potential trip to South Florida to undergo cosmetic surgery for at least a year. “I wasn’t too up on her doing it, but she kept on and kept on,” he said.
Valls said he’s been practicing for 40 years. His statement read in part, “With thousands of surgeries under his surgical expertise, Dr. Valls has kept a clean record of no losses. The incident has impacted him greatly, and he sends prayers to the loved ones of the patient.”
London leaves behind a 1-year-old and a 22-year-old.
London and Graves had been together for 20-plus years. He is now having to make the painful journey back home to lay his wife to rest.
“I sat out here yesterday, and I’ve seen numbers and numbers of women coming in and out of here, man. I’m just saying, they walked in and out of here, and my wife didn’t walk out of here,” he said.
London’s family said they are waiting for her adult son to make it to South Florida, because they still have plenty of questions. They are also waiting to hear the autopsy results from the medical examiner’s office before heading back to Louisiana.
Miami-Dade Police detectives are investigating.
(Copyright (c) 2024 Sunbeam Television. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)