Swing Sucked Out of German's Belly Dance

Julia "Cleopatra" Meyer wanted a little less hip in her belly dance routine and decided to go under the knife for a dose of liposuction.

"I had been unhappy with my saddlebags, the fat stored in the outer thigh area," she said, according to the Internet site ananova.com. "Because of the local anesthesia I did not realize what he was doing.

"When I saw afterwards that half of my bum was missing I almost fainted. It had been completely sucked away."

During the trial, Meyer said she could no longer offer dance and gymnastic courses or perform her dances. She added that the failed liposuction has made her too ashamed of her body to go to a swimming pool.

The court heard that the unnamed private clinic plastic surgeon had removed fat from her right buttock instead of her thighs. The court ordered the doctor to pay Meyer 17,533 euros ($23,357) compensation, double the amont she had sought..

A consultant at the Berlin Charité hospital who gave an expert opinion called the surgery a "grave error in treatment."