Former supermodel opens up about being 'brutally disfigured' after fat dissolving procedure
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
Former supermodel Linda Evangelista has said she is no longer going to "hide in shame" after a fat dissolving procedure, known as CoolSculpting, left her "brutally disfigured".
Last year, she took to Instagram to reveal that she'd essentially become a recluse following a fat dissolving procedure, which was supposed to decrease fat cells, had allegedly "increased" her cells and left her "unrecognisable". She also claimed that she had been left "permanently deformed" and had to undergo "two painful, unsuccessful, corrective surgeries".
Now, five months on since she first shared her ordeal, Evangelista has opened up about how she is learning to accept her body. "I loved being up on the catwalk. Now I dread running into someone I know," she told People magazine – where she revealed the first photos of her body since the procedure. "I can't live like this anymore, in hiding and shame. I just couldn't live in this pain any longer. I'm willing to finally speak."
Describing what happened to her, Evangelista claims that within three months of having the fat dissolving procedure, she started noticing bulges around her chin, thighs and chest area – the same areas she had tried to shrink. She also recalled that the areas hardened, eventually going numb.
Eventually, the former supermodel went to the doctor to seek out answers and was immediately diagnosed with Paradoxical Adipose Hyperplasia (PAH), a rare side effect of the procedure which causes an overgrowth of fatty tissue. "He told me no amount of dieting, and no amount of exercise was ever going to fix it."
Following her diagnosis, the 56-year-old filed a lawsuit against CoolSculpting's parent company, Zeltiq Aesthetics Inc., for $50 million in damages, alleging that she's been unable to work since the sessions. In response, Zeltiq reportedly offered Evangelista liposuction to "make it right". However, she claims that the night before the procedure was due to go ahead, the company said they would only cover the cost if she signed a confidentiality agreement. After refusing the offer, Evangelista underwent liposuction at her own expense, but she says this hasn't resolved the issue.
"It wasn't even a little bit better," she explained. "The bulges are protrusions. And they're hard. If I walk without a girdle in a dress, I will have chafing to the point of almost bleeding. Because it's not like soft fat rubbing, it's like hard fat rubbing."
She went on, "I don't look in the mirror... It doesn't look like me."
Despite that, Evangelista says she is doing her best to rebuild her confidence. "Why do we feel the need to do these things [to our bodies]? I always knew I would age. And I know that there are things a body goes through. But I just didn't think I would look like this," she added. "I don't recognise myself physically, but I don't recognise me as a person any longer either. She [the supermodel] is sort of gone."
Evangelista continued: "I hope I can shed myself of some of the shame and help other people who are in the same situation as me. That's my goal."
Cosmopolitan UK has reached out to CoolSculpting for comment.
You Might Also Like
