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A TikTok mom documenting her tummy tuck journey suffered a deadly brain injury after the surgery, leaving her plastic surgeon “struggling to understand” what happened.
Rachel Tussey went to Dr. Shahryar Tork — a double-board-certified plastic surgeon based in Cincinnati — for the procedure on February 25, and she died just days later on March 3.
“I am heartbroken for Rachel Tussey and her family,” Tork said in a statement to TMZ.
“My thoughts remain with her loved ones during this devastating time,” he continued. “Like them, I am struggling to understand how this could have occurred.”
Tork added that Tussey’s surgery “was completed successfully and without complications,” and “she was awake and in excellent condition” when he last saw her in the recovery room.
Tussey’s husband, Jeremy, said he was by his wife’s side and assured the procedure went well before the doctor wrapped his day and went home.
Just minutes later, he heard Tussey calling out for him.
“Next thing you know, I look down, and her face is off color,” he recalled. “I assumed it was from the surgery, you know, from a lack of blood.”
Tussey, a mother of three, became unresponsive, and she was rushed to TriHealth Bethesda North Hospital, where she was placed on life support. She was eventually moved to hospice care and life support was withdrawn.
The Tusseys’ attorney, Bernard Layne, told TMZ that she “suffered a permanent anoxic brain injury.”
Jessica Schladebeck; New York Daily News; (TNS) | ©2026 New York Daily News. Visit nydailynews.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
