Mum left hours from death after disaster BBL says the love for her son kept her alive

A mum left an hour from death after botched Brazilian butt lift surgery has welcomed the public consultation announced this week and wants to see cosmetic cowboys face tough jail time. Bonnie-Louise Cooper, 29, has campaigned for action against Cosmetic ‘Del Boys’ since she nearly died in November 2023. She ended up with six doctors around her and was warned she could die within the hour after getting sepsis following a dodgy liquid BBL in the UK. The mum had chosen to have the £1,500 procedure in the UK, thinking it would be safer. The BBL is a non-surgical buttock augmentation where dermal fillers are injected to increase volume and shape the buttocks. But it all ended in disaster when Bonnie-Louise was taken ill with sepsis and she had to be blue-lighted to hospital. Bonnie-Louise from Swanage in Dorset is convinced it was her love for her son, Kash, now seven, that helped her stay alive. She told the Mirror: “When I was in the hospital room I had about six doctors around me. One of the doctors told me ‘you could die within the hour’. I was in disbelief. It was horrific. My organs had started shutting down. I couldn’t walk, could not stand up. I was delirious. “I knew I could not die. I didn’t have the support village that people have, around me. Unfortunately it was just me. That puts the fear factor there. It was like a fight or flight mode. The mother bear comes out. I was like 'I can’t die, I have a son'. I knew I had to go home. It was 100 per cent the power of a mother’s love that helped me live.” Today Bonnie-Louise still has nerve damage on her left side, with her leg going numb if she lies down and she also suffers from PTSD. “I’m still very cautious now and I think it is fair to say I have PTSD from the treatment. I didn’t expect that to happen to me because I thought I was with a qualified practitioner. All my trust has gone now," she told the Mirror. Bonnie-Louise has been helping the Mirror’s Ban The Cosmetic Cowboys campaign since the start, determined to highlight how hundreds of unregulated clinics offer cut-price and often dangerous surgical treatments by unqualified staff, sometimes with just hours of training. Rogue outlets have caused life-changing injuries and even cost lives. We reported in 2024 that mum-of-five, Alice Webb, 33, had become the first person to die following a liquid BBL in a UK clinic. Now the Government has launched a 12-week public consultation and a crackdown on dodgy people performing procedures like liquid Brazilian Butt Lifts (BBLs) on the high street. The move has been welcomed as a “brilliant” first step - but campaigners stress it needs to happen fast, as botched procedures being performed in the UK's high streets have escalated to a “horror film” level. The Department of Health and Social Care announced potentially deadly filler procedures such as BBLs can now only be carried out by qualified medics such as doctors, working for Care Quality Commission regulated providers. And those ‘cowboys’ risking lives could face a jail sentence or hefty fines of more than £4,000. Bonnie-Louise, welcomed the news and said: “There should be jail time, not just a fine for these people. If you went up to somebody with a knife and butchered them, you could go to jail.” “The new regulations for liquid BBL procedures is very needed. This is a step in the right direction, I believe it’s a procedure that needs to be carried out in theatre, a controlled medical environment,” Bonnie-Louise responded. “I think a doctor at the very least, but preferably a GMC-registered surgeon should be allowed to carry this procedure out.” She urged other women to take real care if they have procedures and opt for a surgeon for a BBL. She said of her experience in a salon: “He claimed to have all these certificates and advanced training and they were even on the wall when I went in and I read them. There was nothing to show a red flag. “I was stood up during the procedure which took about 40 minutes and I know now that I should have been lying down and I should have had an ultrasound... but I didn’t. "It was so painful I was crying. He said the pain was normal. He said: ‘Do you want me to carry on? ...but you will only have one side.’ He put me in an impossible situation. “When I arrived he had been welcoming, but he just completely switched. After the treatment I was clearly in a lot of pain, he was on his phone, it was just negligent. He didn’t reassure me at all. He just changed. The man who welcomed me through the door was not the same man.” In a message to other women, she said: “I would say don’t get it done unless you were under a surgeon’s hands. I know that sounds so dramatic but there is so much in a liquid BBL it should not be done by anyone else. It should be something done in theatre, you’ve got major arteries there and nerves. I didn’t realise how serious it was. “I feel angry that there are places still advertising liquid BBL. It’s irresponsible and money grabbing. They know whoever they are working on is going to be damaged from it, they know that and a lot of them are not following guidelines. “I’m genuinely shocked. I want to see the strictest guidelines possible. They are playing with people’s lives.” The Government's proposed new rules would stop under-18s having risky cosmetic or wellbeing treatments, while fillers are already restricted for children under a separate law. Under the new regulations, treatments that involve injecting fillers anywhere other than the face, such as BBLs, would be legally defined as cosmetic surgical procedures - meaning they can only be performed by qualified medics. Other high-risk treatments such as deep chemical peels, vampire facials and some laser procedures would be restricted to doctors, dentists, some nurses, midwives and pharmacists. Those who flout the rules could be hit with unlimited fines or fixed penalties up to £4,000. Health minister Karin Smyth said this week: "If you're planning to undergo a major cosmetic procedure, you deserve to know you're in safe hands - not risking your life with a rogue operator. These changes mean that only properly trained professionals can carry out the most serious, high-risk procedures, and that young people will be shielded from treatments that can go badly wrong. "We want to drive cosmetic cowboys out of the market and raise standards across the board, giving reputable businesses a fair chance to thrive by helping people identify safe, qualified providers they can trust." The Government will launch a consultation asking for input from doctors, regulators and businesses to draw up draft regulations. The blueprint will then go through the parliamentary process, which is currently planned for spring 2027.