Fun Trend That Will Kill You: “Pumping Parties” Popular Among Latinas, Trannies

There has been a recent spike in deaths caused by silicone poisoning thanks to a new trend that is, apparently, increasing in popularity among two of our nation’s favorite populations - Latinas and MTF transgendered people. We’d never thought we’d have to issue this warning but, here goes: Please make an effort not to let strangers inject you with silicone in a back alley, ok? Promise?

Illegal and unregulated injections of silicone among people who may not have access to safe plastic surgery can lead to the migration of silicone through the bloodstream, where it may eventually result fatal clots. On an aesthetic level, the silicone can also clump up, leading to unsightly bumps and skin irregularities. 

The silicone can be purchased at hardware stores, along with other essential beauty products like sandpaper and masking tape. Some women and pre-op transsexuals can also find silicone at “pumping parties.” You may recall our previous post on the prevalence of “butt pumping parties” in Miami. One commenter wrote:

I thought only really crazy ghetto trannies did that.

And oh was he right! Injecting silicone into the breasts, ass and thighs creates a more “womanly” shape faster and less expensively than hormone therapy. And, with the strange and wondrous lumps that may result, you might even end up with seven breasts and three ass cheeks. You’d be, like. Extra womanly.

One recent victim of the procedure, Fiordaliza Pichardo, died from a silicone embolism in her lungs after having undergone injections to augment her thighs and buttocks:

Ms. Pichardo’s 19-year-old daughter, Marinés Rodriguez, said that her mother began getting silicone injections several years ago after a friend introduced her to a cosmetologist.

Ms. Rodriguez said the cosmetologist went to Ms. Pichardo’s home in the Bronx and to other clients in Manhattan and Miami. A cup of silicone cost $800, and the cosmetologist would inject half a cup to two cups in a single session, Ms. Rodriguez said. Her mother, she said, “didn’t really care about the price. It was more that she knew somebody who had this first.”

Ms. Pichardo came to trust the woman. “She felt that was her friend, nothing could go wrong,” Ms. Rodriguez said.

But if she really hadn’t cared about the price, why wouldn’t she have visited a certified plastic surgeon? In any case, a medical examiner has ruled Pichardo’s death a homicide because she was injected by an unlicensed nonmedical practitioner. No charges have been filed, however, and the woman who injected Pichardo is thought to have fled to the Dominican Republic. So if you’re on the beach in Punta Cana and some sketchmeister with a syringe and a Dixie cup of silicone approaches your ass, run.

A Cheap, Fast and Possibly Deadly Route to Beauty [NYT]