Unlicensed nurse performed buttock enhancement that caused woman to go into cardiac arrest

Donna Francis purchased the silicone gel from eBay to inject into her "patient." Photo / Getty Images

An unlicensed nurse and physician performed a buttocks enhancement procedure on a woman which put her into cardiac arrest and killed her.

Donna Francis from Maryland operated from a basement using a massage table to operate on and inserted silicone gel bought from eBay into her "patient's" body, John M. Ryan, acting district attorney for Queens County in New York, said.

The victim paid Francis US$1600 ($2500) for the injections but when the fluid was pumped into her body she went into cardiac arrest.

"The medical examiner determined the woman's cause of death was systemic silicone (embolism)," prosecutors revealed.

"Silicone, when injected into a human body, must be encapsulated to avoid free silicone from entering the bloodstream and causing an embolism."

The mother of the victim called 911 after her daughter was showing signs of distress when Francis began to insert the second dose of clear fluid.

"Emergency responders arrived at the scene and found the victim lying face up at the bottom of the stairs," the statement said.

"She was transported to a nearby hospital where she was pronounced dead."

When officials searched a second address given for Francis they found "syringes, a jug filled with a clear liquid consistent with silicone and an invoice with the defendant's name on it for jugs of dimethicone (a silicone-based product) from eBay."

Francis fled to London the next day where she unsuccessfully fought extradition and was eventually brought back to the US. She is now waiting for sentencing on November 14.