How did Odalis Santos Mena die? Influencer tried procedure to reduce underarm sweating
A social media influencer has reportedly lost her life following a botched medical procedure to treat excessive underarm sweating.
Odalis Santos Mena, 23, received a controversial medical procedure at an allegedly unlicensed medical practice before she died on Wednesday, July 7. The fitness influencer, who often posted online, reportedly attended the SkinPiel clinic in the Mexican city of Guadalajara, where she had agreed to promote a treatment to reduce underarm sweating named MiraDry as part of a paid partnership.
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According to The Sun, the treatment uses heat energy to remove sweat glands as well as body odor and underarm hair. Mena promoted the treatment online to her 146K followers on Instagram, with reassurances that the treatment was simple and safe. Tragically, however, she died following the procedure, suffering a heart attack shortly after. Mexican law enforcement have launched an investigation into the incident.
The young social media sensation's death was due to negligence, some local reports alleged, saying it was carried out by "non-professionals." Mena was reportedly anesthetized by an employee of the clinic who had no prior experience or training as an anesthetist. Mena went into cardiac arrest moments later, with clinic employees scrambling to save her by performing CPR. However, their efforts to revive her were in vain.
Coroners said they believe the fitness influencer died due to a combination of the anesthesia and the steroid medication she was on. Meanwhile, the clinic has insisted they were not aware of her medication before agreeing to the procedure.
Mena was popular on social media for her fitness regimes and was known to frequently take part in fitness competitions. She was named Campeona of Miss y Mr. Hercules 2019 and won the Wellness Fitness Juvenile contest event shortly before her demise. Aside from various competitions, Mena garnered thousands of followers by flaunting her toned physique.
At the time of her death, she was reportedly studying for an undergraduate university degree in nutrition and was believed to be in a happy relationship with her personal trainer and nutritionist Victor Gomez Carreno. "Your actions in life, echo in eternity," Carreno wrote on Instagram following her death. "I will take you with me forever short, it makes no sense to write here what I feel in my heart @odalis_sm, I love you."
Mena's best friend, Karen Herrera, also mourned her loss. “Osi, my scolding companion, cardio, school, work, cinema, Arabic lemonade without sugar and everything! I can’t tell you anything that I haven’t told you before, we’ll always be family," she wrote online.
This comes just days after MEAWW reported how an Australian TikTok Star Caitlyn Loane died by suicide at the age of 19. Her father confirmed her sudden demise in a statement on Thursday, July 8, saying, "She was a lovely, crazy young woman who was an invaluable member of our family. Words can't describe our loss."
A fourth-generation farmer who rose to fame documenting her life working in northern Tasmania's agriculture industry on TikTok, Loane's final video to her 51,000 followers on June 27 was reportedly a photo montage set to a song asking, “How far would you drive for the girl of your dreams?” In the caption, she wrote, “How about to Tasmania?” Her family did not share why she took her own life.