An American woman has died after undergoing botched plastic surgery in Colombia.

Diana Alvarez, a married mother-of-one who lived in Kennesaw, Georgia, traveled to her native Medellin in early December 2016 to get liposuction on her belly.

When she arrived at the recommended surgeon's clinic - a two-story house - she was persuaded to also get work on her breasts for a 'bargain' total price of $5,000, her husband Dario Chavarro claims.

The last thing Diana, 36, said before the five-hour operation on December 13 was 'I'm so scared'.

When she woke up from the anesthetic, she fell into cardiac arrest, and died in a nearby clinic.

Distraught, her husband has now launched a campaign to raise awareness about botched plastic surgeries - speaking in Colombian congress, protesting outside the hospital, and giving media interviews.

Diana Alvarez, who lived in Kennesaw, Georgia, traveled to her native Medellin in December 2016 to get liposuction on her belly. She died of cardiac arrest. Pictured with her son (right)

Distraught: Diana's husband Dario Chavarro (right) has launched a campaign against botched surgeries - speaking in Colombian congress, protesting at the hospital, and giving interviews

WHAT IS LIPOSUCTION AND THE DANGERS? PURPOSE: Liposuction removes fat from areas such as the abdomen, arms, buttocks, calves, chest, back, hips, thighs, neck, and very occasionally breasts. The procedure reduces the number of fat cells in a specific area. The amount of fat removed depends on the appearance of the area and the volume of fat. HOW IT'S DONE: There are a few ways of doing it. The most common is 'tumescent liposuction': Surgeon injects a sterile solution (salt water to help fat removal, anesthetic to relieve pain, and epinephrine to constrict blood vessels) into the area that's being treated. The fluid causes the affected area to swell and stiffen. The surgeon then makes small cuts into the skin, inserting a thin tube called a cannula. The cannula is connected to a vacuum sucking fat and fluids out of the body. Patients can later be given an IV drip to replenish their body fluids. RISKS: If done in the wrong hands, liposuction can carry a number of risks, many life-threatening. Patients can suffer heart problems, like Diana, due to a shift in fluid levels as fluids are being injected in and suctioned out. Depending on the location of the operation, there could be a risk of puncturing an internal organ with the cannula. Some botched operations have led to fat embolisms - when pieces of loosened fat might break away and become trapped in a blood vessel and gather in the lungs or travel to the brain. Skin infections are also possible, though rare. Aesthetically, surgeons with little or poor experience could leave patients with bumpy, wavy or withered skin due to uneven fat removal, poor skin elasticity and unusual healing. They could tamper with nerves, causing permanent numbness in the affected area. Advertisement

'I'm doing all this so that her death is not in vain,' Dario told WSBTV.

'My wife was already a gorgeous woman. She didn't need any of that.'

The CDC estimates 750,000 American citizens travel abroad each year for nips and tucks - a vast proportion to Colombia.

Dario said he tried to persuade his wife not to get the work done, telling her she was beautiful.

Accepting her decision to go ahead with it, he stayed at home with their son.

But hours later, he received a panicked call from Diana as she suffered a cardiac arrest, asking him to pray for her.

He jumped on a plane to Medellin. By the time he arrived, she had already passed away.

Diana's death became headline news within days after Dario set up a protest outside the hospital shouting 'Diana died here'.

Diana was the 13th plastic surgery fatality in Medellin in 2016. Federal authorities are now investigating her death.

Daily Mail Online has yet to receive a response from the surgeon, Lizbeth Vicent Pacheco, for a comment as she is under investigation.

Her attorney said in a statement to CBS News: 'The surgical procedures on the body of Mrs. Diana Alvarez were practiced within the realm of good medical practice.

'In every procedure or medical intervention, there are inherent risks and possible complications, such as death, which was accepted and signed in informed consents...I deeply lament Diana Alvarez' passing and I am in solidarity with her husband and her family.'

Liposuction removes fat from areas such as the abdomen, arms, buttocks, calves, chest, back, hips, thighs, neck, and very occasionally breasts.

The procedure reduces the number of fat cells in a specific area. The amount of fat removed depends on the appearance of the area and the volume of fat.

If done in the wrong hands, liposuction can carry a number of risks, many life-threatening.

Patients can suffer heart problems, like Diana, due to a shift in fluid levels as fluids are being injected in and suctioned out.

Depending on the location of the operation, there could be a risk of puncturing an internal organ with the cannula.

Some botched operations have led to fat embolisms - when pieces of loosened fat might break away and become trapped in a blood vessel and gather in the lungs or travel to the brain.

Skin infections are also possible, though rare.

Aesthetically, surgeons with little or poor experience could leave patients with bumpy, wavy or withered skin due to uneven fat removal, poor skin elasticity and unusual healing.

They could tamper with nerves, causing permanent numbness in the affected area.

Speaking to Daily Mail Online, Dr Stafford Broumand, of New York City's 740 Park Plastic Surgery, warns patients to be unwaveringly certain in their surgeon's qualifications.

'You need to be sure you know your surgeon is certified. Make sure they have the experience in doing that operation.

'It all has to do with how capable a surgeon is with handling the complications and how well the patient understands the complications.

'In America, it has to be the American Board of Plastic Surgery or the American Society of Plastic Surgeons.

'Check their qualifications online. Look at their website and make sure their reviews are good. Make sure you are aligned with your doctor and make sure you are on the same page.'

He explains that in America, qualified surgeons are easy to investigate and verify online, by consulting previous patients or looking up their clinic.

However, many Americans travel abroad to get work done - and Colombia is a top destination.

In global rankings, Colombia comes eighth for the most plastic surgery operations per capita.

Protest: Diana's death became headline news within days after Dario set up a protest outside the hospital shouting 'Diana died here', and 'no more Dianas' (pictured)

Tragic: Diana (pictured with her son) was one of the 750,000 American citizens that the CDC estimates travel abroad each year for nips and tucks - a vast proportion to Colombia

Fighting back: Dario said he is determined Diana's death will not be in vain (pictured in London)

The number of tourists coming specifically to get a nip n' tuck has multiplied by 50 in just eight years.

According to the International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, three plastic surgery operations are performed every three minutes in Colombia.

But amid that boom, there is a fierce rise in fatalities.

Chavarro believes there is a criminal gang profiting from botched plastic surgeries.

He is hardly the first to float that idea.

Medellin, once the epicenter of drug-trafficking in Colombia, has seen a 300 percent rise in plastic surgery fatalities in the past year.