The family of Doris Jordan has been awarded $52 million in damages following her death after a cosmetic surgery procedure in Georgia—but for her loved ones, the ruling offers little comfort and no real sense of closure.
Doris Jordan was more than a name in a court file. She was a nurse, an Army veteran, and a devoted mother of three. In December 2019, she walked into a cosmetic surgery clinic in Lawrenceville, hoping to feel better about herself. She never walked out.
Nearly five years later, a Gwinnett County Superior Court judge ruled that her death was preventable and the result of profound medical failures. Yet the family she left behind may never receive the compensation meant to acknowledge her suffering and the life taken too soon.
A Routine Procedure That Turned Fatal
Jordan died after undergoing liposuction and a Brazilian butt lift at Sei Bello, a cosmetic surgery clinic in Lawrenceville, Georgia.
Court testimony revealed a cascade of failures inside the operating room—failures that her family’s attorney described as “a disaster waiting to happen.”
According to the evidence presented, the clinic ran out of anesthesia during the procedure. Worse still, when Doris stopped breathing, staff discovered that the oxygen tubing connected to her nose was not delivering any oxygen at all because the facility had none available.
By the time clinic staff realized she had no pulse and was not breathing, critical minutes were already slipping away. Records show that 911 was not called for 19 minutes after that realization. Doris Jordan suffered severe brain damage from lack of oxygen and died the following day.
A Husband’s Grief, A Family Changed Forever
Last month, Judge Jon W. Setzer awarded Doris Jordan’s family $16 million for her pain and suffering and $36 million for wrongful death, bringing the total judgment to $52 million.
But for James Jordan, her husband, the number feels hollow.
“I want my wife back,” he said in an emotional interview. “The money doesn’t compensate for what she did for me and our family.”
James now lives in Florida with their children, carrying the weight of a loss that reshaped their lives overnight. He says the family still lacks answers—and justice feels incomplete.
“We don’t even get a dollar,” he said. “We lost her, and we don’t get the answers we’re seeking.”
A Judgment Without Recovery
Despite the size of the award, the Jordan family is unlikely to collect most—if any—of the damages. Court records show the clinic was uninsured at the time of Doris Jordan’s surgery, leaving little chance of financial recovery.
Sei Bello dissolved within a year of her death and was officially shut down by the state in October 2020 for failing to register and pay required fees.
The clinic’s owner, John Holmes, did not respond to requests for comment. Records indicate he previously operated another business in the same complex under the name “Butts Gone Wild.”
The doctor involved in the procedure, Dr. Kanye Willis, reached a separate settlement with the family but declined to comment publicly. State records show a physician with that name remains board-certified in Georgia. The nurse involved in the case had a license that lapsed in 2023.
A Warning for Others
For the Jordan family, sharing Doris’ story is now about more than their own loss. It is a warning.
“I just hope people get this and look into it seriously,” James Jordan said. “These pop-up clinics are not all they appear to be on the surface.”
Their attorney, Moses Kim, echoed that concern, pointing to the booming cosmetic surgery industry and the risks patients face when clinics operate without adequate oversight, resources, or insurance.
“Consumers really need to do their own homework,” Kim said, “to make sure these operations are high-quality operations.”
Remembering Doris Jordan
Doris Jordan dedicated her life to caring for others—as a nurse, a soldier, a wife, and a mother. Her death exposed dangerous gaps in patient safety and accountability, but her family hopes her story will save lives by urging others to ask hard questions before placing their trust in cosmetic surgery clinics.
For James Jordan and his children, the court ruling cannot restore what was lost. What remains is memory, grief, and a determination to ensure Doris’ death is not forgotten—or repeated.
