Woman dies after injecting hot beef fat into face
A south suburban woman died Thursday after apparently injecting heated beef fat into her face.
Janet Hardt, 63, of the 1000 block of W. 186th St. in Homewood, was pronounced dead at 6:25 p.m. at Advocate South Suburban Hospital in Hazel Crest, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner’s office.
An autopsy Friday determined Hardt died of peritonitis, a severe abdominal inflammation caused by a bacterial infection suffered from weakened walls in her colon, according to the medical examiner’s office.
Infections she suffered in her face from the injections did not lead to her death, which was ruled natural, according to the medical examiner’s office.
A source said shortly before Hardt died, she injected heated beef fat into her face around her mouth and chin, a procedure she had done before on several occasions.
Her face reportedly looked “grotesque’’ and the infections in her mouth and lip also had scarring from performing the injections “for some time.’’
The victim was reportedly “obsessed’’ with the process of performing self-injections and had developed her own “process,’’ according to a source. She would boil the beef herself, extract the fat and ****** it into her face.
Hardt went to the hospital after complaining that her face felt like it was burning, according to the source.
She had previously undergone multiple facial surgeries, the source said. Her face had a “tight’’ appearance and was not very wrinkled.
Homewood spokeswoman Rachael Jones was not available to comment Friday afternoon.
