A 33-year-old woman has tragically died after receiving anaesthetic during a home tattoo session in Bogotá, Colombia. Get the latest updates on our WhatsApp channel.
The woman, identified as Yenifer García Valencia, died on August 15 after undergoing a session to complete a large tattoo covering her lower back and part of her buttocks.
According to her sister, Claudia García, Yenifer had struggled to cope with the pain during previous tattoo sessions and decided to look for someone who could administer anaesthetic so she could complete the work.
Claudia said:
“The tattoo was very large and was on her lower back, and she couldn’t cope with the pain without anaesthetic.
“She’d already had several sessions, I think two or three. So she decided to find someone who could give her anaesthetic.”
Claudia said Yenifer was introduced to a man who was presented to her as an anaesthetist, and she hired him to administer the medication during the tattoo session.
She added:
“As far as I understand, he didn’t inject her just once. He gave her another injection each time she said she was still in pain.
“They only found about two types of medication, and he said he had only administered one of them, which apparently is used to make tusi – or is an anaesthetic used for animals.”
When paramedics arrived at the scene, they reportedly found a box of Ketamin-50, a bottle of Dormicum containing midazolam, a used syringe and sterile powder intended for injectable solution.
Yenifer’s husband, Jonathan Cantor, told local media that the man hired to administer the drugs was questioned during the emergency response about what he had given her.
The man reportedly mentioned ketamine and several other medications, although the exact substances and amounts administered to Yenifer have not been established.
The man was identified as Juan Jaider Sánchez Goes. He reportedly charged COP 600,000 for administering the injections.