00:01 ELIZABETH: I was basically a victim of an
experiment.
COMM: She was one of the only original megastars
of the adult film industry. At the height of her fame Elizabeth Starr underwent a dangerous
operation. To increase her breasts to an O size cup.
WOMAN: So that is forty seven inches.
COMM: The now banned string implant procedure
had dire consequences, and despite sixty three corrective surgeries, Elizabeth now lives
every day in fear that she could die at any time.
ELIZABETH: I'm a ticking time bomb because
anything could happen to me.
COMM: For twenty years Elizabeth made a living
as an adult entertainer, but then realised studios favoured one look in particular.
ELIZABETH: I wanted to further my career and
call the shots by having larger breasts.
COMM: In 1999 Elizabeth underwent a controversial
procedure, using synthetic string implants to stimulate fluids in her breasts, increasing
them form an F to an O size cup. But not everything went to plan.
ELIZABETH: I was lied to and I was told that
it was approved by the FDA, both my breasts were growing with fluid, getting bigger and
larger.
COMM: The string procedure is now banned.
But for Elizabeth, the effects of the operation were devastating.
ELIZABETH: A lot of us got sick, walking around
months and months with staph infections and our body eating away the breast tissue, killing
us slowly.
COMM: With one string implant deeply embedded
in her left breast, and a saline implant in her right, she lives everyday fearing the
next infection could be fatal, and living with supersize breasts poses other challenges.
COMM: Sometimes I bump into walls because
my boobs reach the walls or the corners before I do. I can't buy a bra off the rack, I have
to have things custom made or altered. I'm laughing but y'know these are just things
that really are funny.
COMM: Elizabeth's enhanced appearance illicits
strong opinions.
MAN: God damn, look at that y'know, man! Y'know,
but uh she's gorgeous. She's very gorgeous.
MAN: No I've never seen boobs that size anywhere.
It's probably, definitely the biggest pair of boobs I've ever seen. It's abnormal to
me, it's weird.
COMM: Fifteen years after the controversial
surgery, Elizabeth still requires regular examinations. Dr. Alex Sinclair has been looking
after her for the last eight years.
ALEX: Elizabeth, please put your head back,
recline.
02:41 ALEX: Over the years I've seen polypropylene
string implants, I've never seen a case like this. Elizabeth's future is uncertain. I presented
Elizabeth's case at the local medical society and pretty much the unanimous sentiment was
that she needed a double mastectomy.
COMM: Faced with a drastic ultimatum, Elizabeth
has a tough decision to make.
ELIZABETH: It's hard, when you have been a
victim of something, I had a career, I had to take care of my kids, and I was basically
the victim of an experiment. I have one option other than to live like this, and that would
be to face a mastectomy. I honestly don't think I could face, getting a mastectomy,
and being reconstructed.
03:40 COMM: Although choosing to live in fear over
more risky surgery, Elizabeth hopes her story will act as a warning to others looking to
extreme surgery.
COMM: If you're going to try to attempt to
become as busty as I am, you are at an extreme risk, and you have to know what you're dealing
with because it will change your life forever.
END