At 39, Michelle Roniak appears to have it all: a thriving business, a vibrant social life, and a loving family. But beneath the surface lives her all-consuming obsession with physical perfection. Life is a relentless cycle of starving, dieting and binging. Every day begins with her rejecting what she sees in the mirror: I need to change this… fix that… If only I could lose five kilos and my stomach was flat… If only my waist was smaller and my smile wider…

After a boob job at 21, followed by regular sessions of Botox and fillers over the next two decades, the lure of the surgeon’s aesthetic toolbox finally draws Michelle in. It promises her guaranteed perfection and a happy ever after. What is meant to be a “nip and tuck” and routine liposuction – performed by a

highly recommended surgeon – goes horribly wrong. The complications are disastrous, turning her quest for the ideal body into a brutal war within and a battle for her survival. Michelle’s harrowing journey exposes the current global plastic surgery pandemic and unravels the hidden epidemic of the shame and silence surrounding cosmetic procedures gone wrong. Instagram · Twitter