From nose surgery to life support: Dallas woman in coma after plastic surgery in Mexico

Rebecca Lopez | WFAA-TV

Show Caption Hide Caption Dallas woman in coma after plastic surgery abroad goes horribly wrong A Texas woman is still on life support a month after complications from plastic surgery she decided to have in Mexico to save money.

DALLAS – Laura Avila went to Mexico for plastic surgery last month. Now, she's on life support in a Texas hospital due to complications from the procedure.

The Dallas real estate agent traveled to Juarez, Mexico with fiancé Enrique Cruz for surgery on her nose because the procedure was cheaper there.

"The price of course compared to those in U.S. was less than a third," said Angie Avila, Laura's sister.

The couple arrived at a plastic surgery center around noon on October 30. Cruz said an employee administered anesthesia but something went wrong. "I was kind of getting upset and worried because they would not let me see her or anything,” said Cruz.

For eight hours, Avila laid in a room. Cruz was initially told that his fiancé's blood pressure had dropped, and they couldn't perform the operation.

Sister Angie Avila said, "They injected anesthesia in her spine at the clinic and instead of flowing down her body, it went into her brain which caused severe swelling."

Finally, a doctor from a Juarez hospital was called to the clinic. Cruz said he immediately wanted her moved to the hospital.

"That's when they told us, 'Oh, by the way, she had a cardiac arrest,'" Cruz said.

Avila was in cardiac arrest for four minutes, then put into a medically induced coma, according to a GoFundMe page for her medical expenses.

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She spent almost a week in a Mexican hospital. Her family fought to move her to the United States, but hospital officials in Mexico refused to sign transfer papers until they paid the bill.

"The hospital basically held us hostage because we wouldn't pay the full amount,” Angie Avila said.

The family eventually was able to take Avila by ambulance to a hospital in El Paso, Texas, but without critical medical records they needed.

Within hours, doctors in El Paso shared the grim news. "They say she suffered severe brain damage so much so that she will never be our Laura again," Angie Avila said.

The family now has the difficult choice to take her off life support or put in feeding and breathing tubes to keep her alive. "They told us she would never be able to walk or eat for herself again or speak," her sister added.

But family and friends refuse to give up hope. Her family said she's now opening her eyes and moving her hands, and they want to move her to a Dallas hospital, where they say she can get better care.

"Right now we are praying for a miracle. Really we want a second opinion," Cruz said.

However three major hospitals in Dallas have turned them away, saying even though she's a Dallas resident they can't take her because she has no insurance, her family said.

Her attorney, Larry Friedman, said they plan to file a lawsuit against the clinic to hold it accountable. The clinic in Mexico could not be reached for comment.