She wanted the jabs because she thought having a bigger bottom would make her FAMOUS, heartbroken pals say. Claudia was desperate to transform her image with cosmetic surgery so she could appear in music videos. Friends revealed her confidence had dipped after she was dropped from a previous promo because her “booty” was too small. But the £1,000 procedure, carried out in a budget Philadelphia hotel, ended in disaster when Claudia suffered agonising chest pains and died.
Talent scout Tee Ali met the university student – stage name Carmella London – when she filmed a video. He said she often wore special padded trousers to give the impression she had a shapelier backside. Tee said: “She was a dancer and choreographer. She loved to dance and had a drive to be famous. The problem was she didn’t have no butt, and she wanted a butt.
“She went to audition for one video shoot wearing fake booty pants and she got all the attention.
“But when they found out it was fake she didn’t get asked back.
“It’s such a shame. She’s a victim of all these girls trying to be perfect. She thought if she had a big booty she would have been in better videos and been more famous.”
Claudia is thought to have travelled out last November to have a buttocks enlargement op. She jetted off again with three friends to have top-up injections, which she was given last Monday.
Police said she and her pals checked into the cheap Philadelphia hotel to have the illegal procedure. But almost 12 hours after receiving the injections in her rear she began complaining of chest pains and was rushed to hospital, where she died at 1.32am on February 8th, 2011.
It is suspected she may have been injected with industrial silicone normally used as a sealant instead of the more expensive variety usually used for legal breast enlargements. It is also thought the substance was mistakenly injected into a vein. US cops are seeking the “doctor”, who left after giving the jabs in room 425 of the Hampton Inn hotel, near Philadelphia airport.
Some reports claimed the suspect was a “transgendered” woman – a man living as a female.
Claudia’s sister Toomi said her family, from Nigeria, were deeply shocked and had known nothing about her plans for surgery.
Toomi said: “She said she was going to the US but didn’t say why – we thought it was a holiday.
“What has happened is a huge shock. Her mother is very ill and is taking this very badly.”
The family is speaking to the Nigerian Embassy in the US about arrangements for releasing Claudia’s body, which was identified by the Delaware County Medical Examiner. The official did not list the cause of death pending an autopsy and further inquiries. Toxicology results are expected within six weeks. Claudia, of Hackney, East London, and also known as Claudia James, was 12 days from her 21st birthday.
She posted a poignant Tweet shortly before the jab, telling pals: “I’m gooonneeeee so faR away.”
A source said Claudia spent £1,000 on the jabs while one friend paid £1,100 for a hip-enhancing procedure. It is not known if the doctor was licensed. Her three pals remained in America yesterday having been quizzed by cops.
Several US women have been arrested for carrying out illegal bottom-enhancing ops. Last year former Miss Argentina Solange Magano, 38, died of complications after the procedure. Teetotal Claudia appeared in numerous videos posted on her MySpace page and on various talent websites.
“Correctly done, it involves solid silicone implants. Injecting liquid silicone should never be done. If it gets into the bloodstream it can go to the lungs and block the blood vessels.
“It’s like playing Russian Roulette. You get away with it sometimes, but each time you have it done, you’re risking your life.”
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