DALLAS — Angie Avila is in disbelief.
“It still doesn’t feel real,” she said. “The world was literally praying for her. And I was just hoping that we could have been lucky enough to keep her here.”
Her sister, Laura, died just after 8 a.m. on Saturday, two days after Thanksgiving. “She was full of light and love,” Angie said. “Any room she would walk into, you would feel her presence.”
In late October, Avila, a 36-year-old realtor in Dallas, went to Juarez, Mexico, for elective cosmetic surgery on her nose at Rino Center, a clinic that is about three miles from El Paso, just across the Texas border.
Something went wrong when Laura received anesthesia. She lost consciousness and never woke up. “I’ve had this rage inside of me,” Angie said. “It’s rage like I’ve never experienced it before. It’s honestly what gets me out of bed every day - the rage to fight for her, for justice. Because this is a nightmare.”
Angie’s rage is turning into resolve. The Avila family hired lawyers in Mexico, and they say the government is investigating Laura’s death. “I want the clinic to be shut down and other clinics like it that don’t meet standards,” she said.
Online searches found Rino Center has no accreditation from the Joint Commission International or other leading agencies that provide international certification for hospitals and ambulatory surgery centers.
The story has been closely followed by cosmetic surgeons in Dallas, who’ve anxiously watched a growing number of Texans travel overseas because costs are lower. But standards could be, too. “At least in the United States, by board certified plastic surgeons, there are some clear boundaries that we fall into to try to create safe environments,” said Dr. Ramsey Choucair.
He called the situation “heartbreaking.” “We have patients that come in and find one little thing that they don’t like, and you have to be just honest. Your reputation is really not just on who you operate on, it’s almost who you don’t operate on,” he said.
Angie Avila said her sister’s spirit will guide her as she shares Laura’s story to try to protect other people. “You know millions of other people go to other countries for procedures like this and who knows what happens to them? We’re hoping through her story we can bring awareness,” she said.