who is Larissa Moraes, a young woman in a vegetative state after jaw surgery

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A year ago, the medical student Larissa Moraes de Carvalho31 years old, is in vegetative state, after complications in orthognathic surgery, in Juiz de Fora, Minas Gerais. After months of hospitalization, she returned to her family home, from where she had moved to live in Rio de Janeiro, where she was studying her second degree at the State University of Rio de Janeiro.

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Graduated in Pharmacy from the Federal University of Juiz de Fora, Larissa specialized in the Food and Beverage industry, having worked with the production of the Heineken brewery. During her training, she also completed an exchange to complement her studies. Between 2014 and 2015, the young woman lived in the city of Bristol, England, where she graduated in forensic science from the University of the West of England.

Larissa Moraes in England during exchange — Photo: Reproduction/Social media

In addition to additional training in business management, from San Ignacio University, in the United States, she joined, in 2022, the medicine course at the State University of Rio de Janeiro (UERJ), starting to live in the city of Rio.

A year later, in 2023, she entered the Santa Casa de Misericórdia in Juiz de Fora, on March 16, to carry out a orthognathic surgery, procedure to correct changes in the jaws and mandibles. Larissa felt unwell after the surgery and had a cardiorespiratory arrest.

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She was resuscitated and remained hospitalized in the health unit for more than a year, but did not become conscious again. After the cardiorespiratory arrest, Larissa spent a month in the ICU, caught pneumonia and a urinary tract infection. She was then transferred to a room, where she remained until March of this year. A month ago, she was taken home and continues to undergo home treatment.

Larissa, her parents and sister — Photo: Reproduction/Social media

What caused the young woman to be in a vegetative state?

The case was taken to the Public Ministry of Minas Gerais and, in September 2023, prosecutor Jorge Tobias de Souza ordered the opening of an investigation by the Civil Police, which opened an investigation and collected statements. The hospital, the surgeon and the anesthetist are investigated. The family is awaiting answers about what led the young woman to be in a vegetative state.