Toxic Butt-Boosting Shots Send Women to Hospital
Feb. 12, 2009— -- Two Tampa, Fla., women became gravely ill last month after an acquaintance allegedly injected them with a product believed to be a homemade combination of commercial silicone gel and saline, apparently to enhance the appearance of their buttocks, according to police reports.
Sharhonda Lindsay, 32, of Tampa, who is not a doctor, surrendered to police Wednesday morning after they issued a warrant Monday to arrest her for practicing medicine without a license.
According to Debbie Carter, a spokesperson for the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Department, one of the two women who received the injections paid $500 for 40 injections into her buttocks, and the other paid $250 for 20 injections. J.D. Callaway, another spokesman for the Hillsborough County Sheriff's office, said Lindsay has been charged with two counts of practicing medicine without a license -- a third-degree felony that he said could carry a sentence of five years in jail.
Several calls to Lindsay's listed home phone number Wednesday revealed that the number had been disconnected.
Meanwhile, Andrea Lee, 30, and Zakiya Teagle Carswell, 33, both remain hospitalized at Tampa's Town and Country Hospital after suffering severe reactions to the shots they received at the hands of Lindsay on Jan. 29. Police declined to reveal which of the women received the greater number of injections.
Lee's mother, Doretha Belnavis, said her daughter began feeling ill about 3 a.m. the day after the injections. Belnavis said, her daughter was admitted to the hospital at about 7 a.m., and doctors treated her for life-threatening damage to her kidneys.
Belnavis told ABC News affiliate WFTS that her daughter paid $500 for the injections.
On Wednesday, Belnavis said Lee was showing signs of improvement. "She's recovering gradually," she said. "She's on dialysis, and we don't know if that is permanent or temporary."
