Hugo Hernandez Garcia, from Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, has been living with a disfigured face for the past 17 years. In a vain attempt to achieve cosmetic perfection, the formerly handsome stylist injected baby oil into his face, believing it to be a low-cost substitute for collagen. The results were terribly disfiguring. And, unfortunately, irreversible.
In his desire to look more attractive, Hugo started a series of beauty practices in 1997, that would eventually lead to his disfigurement. He performed ‘surgery after surgery’ on himself using household products to make his skin look flawless. During one of these surgeries, he injected baby oil into his face because he thought that it would have the same effect as collagen.
It sounds like a bad idea even in theory, but Hugo was so blinded by his addiction to beauty enhancements that he didn’t realize what the baby oil could do. He had to learn the hard way, unfortunately. Soon after the procedure, his skin turned red and blotchy, and various parts of his face puffed up abnormally. His once-cherubic face is now rather monstrous, devoid of any recognizable features.
Not only did the injections ruin Hugo’s looks, but his health was adversely affected as well. Even though his condition isn’t painful, he now depends on over 15 different medications a day. He needs to be on a special diet, drink plenty of water, stay away from alcohol and avoid a series of harmful substances. He basically needs to live a quiet lifestyle that doesn’t involve too much noise or stress. He has seen several doctors in the hope that the damage can be fixed permanently, but nothing has worked out so far.
Hugo says that he isn’t ashamed of his condition, and he doesn’t mind people seeing him the way he is. “I do not care who sees me, but I do go through depression,” he said. “In my head, I try to tell myself that I have nothing to hide, but the background is traumatic. So I need to go through treatment because I get thoughts that I’m horrible, I look like a monster.” He now realizes the mistakes he has made though, and he regrets having been so obsessed with his looks.
“It’s a mistake that I’m paying the price for,” Hugo said. He wants others to learn from his example and not commit the same mistakes that he did. He considers it his responsibility to send out a message to all those who intend to fix their appearance, consult with the proper medical experts before deciding to do anything.
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