A captain of the New York City Department of Corrections died after undergoing plastic surgery in the Dominican Republic at the hands of a plastic surgeon who had been prosecuted in New York for illegally performing procedures in the United States.
On May 13, 49-year-old Tandra Bowser-Williams, a Rikers Island employee, suffered a ‘small stroke’ following a fat transfer technique at Dr. Hector Cabral’s Centro Internacional de Cirugia Plastica Avanzada clinic in Santo Domingo.
In October 2011 in New York, Dr. Cabral pled guilty to one count of unlicensed practice of medicine and then decided to return to the Dominican Republic, where he continues to practice.
Bowser-Williams’ husband said she was confident in Cabral despite his indictment.
“Her exact words to me were, ‘you’re gonna love Dr. Cabral’s work.’ I didn’t care one way or another. I accepted my wife the way she was,” he said. “Everybody is distraught. She was the heart, the lifeline of the family. The heartbeat.”
According to the Daily News, Cabral cut a plea deal guaranteeing no jail time. He was fined $5,000, ordered to pay $23,055 in restitution, and given 250 hours of community service in the Dominican Republic.
Cabral opened Centro Internacional de Cirugia Plastica Avanzada in Santo Domingo, where Bowser-Williams had surgery.
Her husband said he received a call from a nurse at United Hearts Clinic a day after the procedure.
Tragically, she passed away before her heartbroken husband Curtis Williams could fly to be by her side.
Cabral’s clinic paid for Williams’ travel to the Dominican Republic and other costs related to his wife’s death, including embalming. Bowser-Williams’ death isn’t being investigated, the newspaper reported.
“She was always a good captain, never tried to escape work, always worked in the jails, always worked with inmates,” Patrick Ferraiuolo, President of the Correction Captains union, told the newspaper. “It’s a real loss. She certainly didn’t deserve this. She was a trooper.”
