I’m a beauty queen and couldn’t close my eyes or smile after undergoing botched £3,000 facelift
A BEAUTY queen is unable to close her eyes or smile after a botched £3,000 facelift surgery left her "disfigured".
Yulia Tarasevich, 43, won runner up in the Mrs Russia-International contest two years ago, and soon afterwards went for treatment at a top clinic.
But the Russian mother of two claimed she was "disfigured" during facelift surgery, a blepharoplasty of the eyelids, and reduction of fat in her cheeks.
During the surgery, which took place in Krasnodar, Russia, her face became badly swollen and inflamed.
Yulia had emergency follow-up surgery by another doctor to save her eyes from necrosis, she said in a complaint that is leading to criminal action against two doctors involved in her original operation.
Ms Tarasevich said: “I came to them with a beautiful, healthy face."
“I just wanted to correct some nuances caused by ageing.
“But sadly I lost my health.”
The original medics named as doctors Andrey Komarov and Omar Khaled claim she had a rare genetic condition - scleroderma - which made it impossible to predict and deny responsibility for her nightmare.
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This is a condition that results in hard, thickened areas of skin and sometimes problems with internal organs and blood vessels, caused by the immune system attacking connective tissue under the skin.
However, there is so far no evidence that the victim was suffering from this condition.
She told Russian Channel 1: "I have scars that formed in my cheeks when they ripped out all my tissue.
“My eyes don't close. I can't smile. I can't lift my upper lip.
“One part of my face doesn't work at all.
“I went quietly to the operation, firstly, because all my tests were in order.
“Secondly, because I had plastic surgery before this, I did rhinoplasty, and it went perfectly for me, without any genetic abnormalities."
She claims to have spent £20,000 to try and recover from the damage, with further costs ahead.
But she will not get back her looks from before the surgery.
“The surgeons made me the only one guilty for what has happened,” she said.
“The doctors, who..disfigured my face, relieved themselves of all responsibility.
“I decided to have my day in court.”
Dr Khaled said the case had been “exaggerated”.
He and Dr Komarov are under investigation for flouting laws on the “safety of life and health”, said the Russian Investigative Committee.
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Spokeswoman Anna Pushkina said: “A forensic medical examination has been appointed to determine the severity of the harm to health, and other patients who could have suffered from poor-quality services in this clinic are also being identified.
“The investigation of the criminal case is ongoing."
