Nurse pleads guilty over fatal breast enlargement procedure on her boss

A Chinese nurse unregistered in Australia says she's remorseful for her role in a botched breast filler procedure that killed the boss of a Sydney beauty salon.

Chinese nurse wins visa battle

Sydney beauty salon owner Jean Huang, 35, died after breast enlargement surgery in August 2017. Source: Facebook

A nurse has told a court she'd never administered anaesthetic before assisting in a botched breast filler surgery that killed her beauty salon boss in Sydney.

Jean Huang, 35, died days after having a seizure during a breast enlargement procedure in her Medi Beauty clinic in Chippendale on August 30, 2017.

The nurse in that procedure, Chinese woman Yueqiong Fu, 31, on Friday pleaded guilty to recklessly administered anaesthetic that endangered life and to lying to police.
Yueqiong Fu leaves the Downing Centre Court, Sydney, Friday, May 3, 2019.
Yueqiong Fu leaves the Downing Centre Court, Sydney, Friday, May 3, 2019. Source: AAP
She told the Downing Centre District Court she'd worked at the clinic for three months, had a nursing degree from a Sydney university and clinical experience in China.

But Fu conceded she'd never prepared local anaesthetic before she filled several syringes with lignocaine and saline for Ms Huang's procedure.

"At that time, I was just using Chinese thinking for (obeying the) doctor's instruction," she told her sentence hearing on Friday.

The husband of the victim sobbed in court as he explained he was planning a "full life" with his wife before the "irreversible" change to their lives in August 2017.

The nurse said she was remorseful for her role in the procedure.

"Before I do anything, I should know what things I do and what things I can't do," Fu said.

She has since agreed to give evidence in the manslaughter trial of the Chinese doctor involved in the procedure - granting her a substantial reduction to her eventual sentence.

That sentence will be handed down by Judge Sharon Harris on May 17.

Prosecutors agree something other than jail would be an appropriate sentence but reject Fu's argument that she should escape without a conviction.


Share

2 min read

Published

Updated



Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News daily and direct to your Inbox

Sign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Download our apps
SBS News
SBS Audio
SBS On Demand

Listen to our podcasts
An overview of the day's top stories from SBS News
Interviews and feature reports from SBS News
Your daily ten minute finance and business news wrap with SBS Finance Editor Ricardo Gonçalves.
A daily five minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability
Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS
SBS World News

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service
Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world