Chelsea Ake-Salvacion, the manager of Rejuvenice in Henderson, Nevada, was found dead by her co-workers in one of the salon's cryotherapy chambers.
Born to a Mexican-Hawaiian mother, Salvacion's biological dad is a Filipino living in Hawaii.
"The last person we ever thought that something would happen is Chelsea because she was full of life, so happy, so positive," her uncle, Albert Ake, said in a Skype interview with Balitang America.
Ake-Salvacion worked as a manager at a clinic that offers cryotherapy. It involves exposing the body to negative 240 degree Fahrenheit temperature in a cold chamber.
Used by international celebrities and sports athletes, it is said to relieve pain, accelerate tissue healing, strengthen the immune system, detoxifies, provides instant anti-aging effects, and even burns 500 to 800 calories in one 3-minute session.
Ake-Salvacion's uncle said it was painful to identify his niece's body at the Coroner's Office.
"I was hoping that when I get there, there was a mix-up. There was a wrong person there, it wasn't her. But unfortunately, it was her," he said.
Although the Clark County Coroner's Office has yet to release the official cause of death of Ake-Salvacion, her uncle said the Coroner's Office told him that his niece died within seconds.
"The Coroner Officer on that night, Tuesday night, reassured me that she died instantly. That she died in seconds. That she never suffered," he said.
Although Ake-Salvacion was alone in the cryotherapy clinic, Ake said she is knowledgeable and competent in operating the cryo chamber machine.
"The question is not 'Oh, was she experienced?' Of course she was. She's been with the company since it opened, the first clinic that they had, she's been with them since. She's worked and done that treatment many, many times. Employees are known to do it on their own when they're slow or nothing's going on or after their shift. They go in do a quick treatment," he said.
Joey Aquino, a Pinoy cardiologist of Nevada Heart and Vascular Center, explains the human body's natural reaction.
"I think they only do it for 3 minutes or less because a little more than that hypothermia kicks in and the first things that will happen you go into a panic mode. Your heart rate will increase. Your body will try to get you out of that situation. But after a few more minutes after that, everything tends to shut down," he said.
Ake added that he and his family are patiently waiting for the final pathology report from Chelsea's autopsy.
"She loved the salon. She loved what she was doing. It was just something went wrong and we have to find out what because we don't want any other technician or clients doing this," he said.
In an email sent to Balitang America, the owner of Rejuvenice salon said that everyone in their company is devastated by the accident and that they are scrutinizing each and every of their internal procedures to ensure that this won't happen again.
Read more on Balitang America
source: www.abs-cbnnews.com
