Brazilian Model, Beauty Queen Dies After Cosmetic Procedure to Zap Wrinkles

A runner up at one of Brazil's major beauty contests has died after getting fillers injected to her face, reports said.

Raquel Santos from Rio de Janeiro, despite being only 28 years old, turned to cosmetic surgery to have her "laugh lines" erased. However, the model got a heart attack after getting her face injected with fillers.

"The 28-year-old, who was a finalist in the popular Musa do Brasil competition in December, suffered a cardiac arrest following the procedure on Monday," MailOnline confirmed. "Police are now investigating whether her reportedly daily use of an illegal horse medicine, which she injected before workouts as a performance enhancer, might have contributed to her death."

In connection with this, authorities have reportedly interrupted the mother-of-two's funeral and took away the body to verify whether allegations that Santos' death certificate was erroneous were true.

And although the autopsy was done by Wednesday, her remains have not been released yet " due to a dispute over whether Ms Santos was dead upon her arrival at the hospital," The Independent said.

The clinic doctor said that Santos was still alive when brought to the hospital, which denied this.

"Wagner Moraes, the surgeon who carried out the procedure, defended the operation and suggested the complications occurred due to Ms Santos' alleged use of the animal steroid injection, Potenay and her heavy smoking," the publication relayed.

The said drug has cardio-respiratory stimulant mefentermine, which tends to raise blood pressure. The drug, Potenay, has increasingly become popular among bodybuilders in Brazil due to its muscle-building capacity.

According to the model's friends, she was afraid about the prospect of possibly dying during a cosmetic procedure. However, as she was a "slave of vanity," she overlooked her fears and engaged in "every procedure imaginable."

According to G1, a pal, Debora Azevedo, revealed that the deceased was very concerned about her appearance, even going so far as to "have procedures without telling her friends so we wouldn't fight with her."

"She was as addicted to working out as she was to plastic surgery," Azevedo added.

Moraes also said that the procedure only lasted 2 minutes, but was complicated by Santos' Potenay intake. He said she even took the drug every day, even on the day of the cosmetic surgery, as also noted by Fox News Latino.

According to MailOnline, Santos left behind two sons, aged 7 and 13.

Meanwhile, boyfriend Gilberto Azevedo said that he thought she was "fine as she was."

"But she always wanted more, unnecessarily," he said, describing her discontent over her looks.

"She was a very happy person, friendly and full of dreams. All she ever wanted to do was become a model," he added.

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