A famous model and slay queen on Instagram has been left with the vision of a 90-year-old after having surgery to change her eye colour.
Nadinne Bruna, 32, wanted light grey eyes instead of hazel, but ended up losing 80 per cent of her vision in her right eye and 50 per cent in her left eye. She lives in Miami but flew to Colombia for the surgery as it is not approved in the US.
It cost around $3,000 to have silicone implants inserted into her eyes, a discounted price offered on the condition that she posted about it on social media. But Argentinian model Nadinne immediately began experiencing serious problems.
Nadinne claims her vision was constantly blurry as a result of the pressure placed on her optic nerve by the implant and her eyes were red and painful for months. She returned to Colombia in March and June 2017 for two further procedures to attempt to repair the damage but was forced to seek medical attention at Bascom Palmer Eye Institute in Miami.
Ophthalmologist Dr Ranya Habash led a team of medics to remove the dangerous implants in September and Nadinne underwent emergency sight-saving surgery to treat glaucoma in November.
As a result, the model has lost 80 per cent of vision in her right eye and 50 per cent in her left eye, and will have to deal with the consequences of the surgery for the rest of her life.
Nadinne and her twin sister Danna have forged a career on Instagram, where they share images of the cosmetic procedures they have undergone. The twins regularly have their surgeries compensated and are often paid to feature medical practices on their accounts which have more than one million combined followers.
Nadinne said: ‘Before this surgery my eyes were completely healthy. I was so naïve.
‘Ever since this surgery I have had blurry vision. For about a year my eyes were constantly red and itchy.My pupils, they can’t adjust to light anymore so I’m very photosensitive now too. ‘This surgery completely f***ed up my life.In September I was forced to go to hospital in Miami where the doctors said they had to remove the implants to save my sight because of chronic inflammation.‘In November I had emergency glaucoma surgery in both eyes.
‘My vision damage is permanent, and I still have to have a cornea transplant and I have cataracts too.’
Nadinne said the surgery impacted her career as she was unable to participate in photo shoots for her Instagram page, because of the appearance of her eyes.
‘My sister became like my mom. She had to do everything for me,’ she said. After this surgery I went into a deep depression. I’m a very strong person, usually very brave and very smart, but with this I was completely stupid. I trusted the wrong person.
Now I have the vision of a 90-year-old lady right but I’m hoping I can just keep my glaucoma under control.’
Dr Eugenio Carbera, who carried out Nadinne’s initial surgery said he could not comment on individual cases but said he was unaware of any reparative surgeries undertaken by Nadinne.
‘Mrs. Bruna was our patient. However, I do not know any type of treatments that have been carried out on later dates and the results or diagnoses of them. I can not comment and/or disclose information about patients’ cases or medical records.’
Nadinne has not taken legal action against Dr Carbera’s practice as she said she isn’t in the financial position to do so.
The model said: ‘It’s crazy, because even though I’ve been open about this surgery on Instagram, people are still are asking me where they can do it.But I don’t think surgeries are bad. I just didn’t know the risks and I made a mistake by not doing my research.Next month I’m going to have a surgery to reduce my boobs because I’ve lost a lot of weight this year and it’s something I have to do.’