Air steward has spent £100,000 on plastic surgery to be a real life Ken doll

An air steward who has spent £100,000 on plastic surgery in a bid to turn himself into a real-life Ken doll has vowed to continue his obsession – even though it nearly killed him.

Rodrigo Alves, 30, has undergone 20 cosmetic procedures including nose jobs, liposuction, six-pack and pec implants, calf shaping, and botox fillers.

But his quest for perfection nearly cost him his life when a Brazilian doctor injected a gel into his arms to make them look more muscly.

The trans-Atlantic flight attendant was struck down by a major infection which left him paralysed and unable to feed or wash himself.

Rodrigo, who lives in London, said: “On the second day I was left paralysed in both arms. I was relying on my family to look after me.

“I was crying every day, I was extremely depressed, it was very shocking. I would just pray and cry.

“It nearly got to the stage where they were talking about chopping my arm off. The doctors said if the bacteria had gone to my heart I would have died.”

After three weeks in hospital with the support of friends and family, Rodrigo recovered and flew back to the UK.

Shaken by his ordeal, he began to see a therapist who diagnosed him with body dysmorphia – an unhealthy obsession with his appearance.

Brazilian-born Rodrigo has had 12 major operations, eight smaller cosmetic procedures and spent more than £106,000 since the age of 20.

His long list of surgery includes £8,000 on botox and fillers, £30,000 on three nose jobs, £3,000 on liposuction to his jaw and £10,000 on pec implants.

He has also spent  £22,000 on a fake six pack, £7,000 on fillers to his arms, £7,000 on hospital bills, £7,000 on laser lipo, £6,000 on leg lipo and £3,000 on calf shaping.

He also indulges in twice-yearly Botox and filler top-ups and takes a cocktail of daily pills consisting of collagen tablets, anti-water retention and hair growth tablets.

Rodrigo said he “admires” Barbie’s boyfriend Ken – because the toy looks like the “ideal man”.

He said: “With Ken everything is exactly in the right place, his back, his biceps, his jawline.

“So of course I’d like to look like him. He’s perfect!”

Rodrigo decided to go under the knife for the first time in 2004 after struggling with the way he looked since childhood.

He said: “I’ve never felt comfortable in my own skin. When I was little I was always teased about my nose by my classmates and my family.

“They said it was the biggest nose they’d ever seen.”

As he grew older, Rodrigo realised he didn’t have to put up with his looks – and had his first operation when he moved to London.

He said: “I hated my nose so much and when the swelling went down I was delighted with the results.

“From that moment on I was hooked.”

After he nearly lost his life in Brazil in January, Rodrigo said: “I did wonder why I was doing this to myself. I was going crazy.

“Hopefully the therapy will help me not to have this desire to keep enhancing and changing myself and having fillers. It’s all very painful.”

However Rodrigo – who says he funds all the procedures himself through savings – admitted he still had plans to go under the knife again, even though his last bout of surgery nearly killed him.

He said: “I can’t say I won’t have any more surgery, because I probably will.

“I haven’t yet found an answer to my addiction. It’s just so difficult to control.

“I’d like to make my shoulders bigger, my bum rounder, my pecs larger and probably another nose job.

“The fact I nearly died has made me think twice, but on the third time I always think: ‘Just go for it.”