Modeling seems like an easy profession. You travel to exotic locations, wear amazing clothes, and give the camera your best 'blue steel' pose. But there are challenges just like any other job. When your body is your life, you have to maintain your pristine appearance.
Sabrina Jales St. Pierre is a Brazilian model who's worked for Tommy Hilfiger, Ralph Lauren, Valentino, Versace and Victoria's Secret. But she allegedly experienced a nightmarish situation at a hotel in California. She claims after staying at Palm Desert Embassy Suites, a Hilton hotel, bed bugs 'massacred' her body.
The incident happened two years ago, and now Sabrina is suing the hotel. She claims the bed bug bites caused her pain and emotional distress, plus harmed her career. "Sabrina started noticing the bed bug bites after her first night in the hotel, and eventually she was massacred by bites covering pretty much her entire body," her attorney Brian Virag told the Desert Sun.
Remember the children's rhyme, "Good night, sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs bite"? As a kid, I didn't think bed bugs were a real thing, or their bites were that serious. But oh man, was I wrong. Luckily I've never had the misfortune to experience them. But as you can tell from these photos Sabrina shared, they are no joke.
"Like most victims of bed bugs, Sabrina also had nightmares about the experience, and she still experiences psychological trauma and fear of bed bugs today," stated Virag. "This was especially traumatic for Sabrina because her body is her work, so this severely affected her work and her career. She had to continue working during the hotel stay, but the bite marks all over her body made her feel embarrassed, ashamed and humiliated."
The photos reveal Sabrina suffered from some pretty serious, gross-looking bites, that lasted from Tuesday, June 28th to Tuesday, July 5th. Indeed, they are all over, from her shoulders to her torso to her legs. (I wonder, did she feel them biting her as she slept?)
Well, you can see why the bites were distressful, and could have negatively impacted her modeling career. Unless she got a request to pose for the cover of Bed But Bite Magazine, in which case she would have been uniquely qualified. Rather than just post a negative Yelp review, she has filed a lawsuit with the Riverside County Superior Court, seeking monetary and punitive damages.
The general manager of the Embassy Suites, Carlos Mendoza, denies the allegations. He claims the hotel takes the proper precautions and that two inspections revealed no evidence of bed bugs. "The comfort and health and safety of our guests is most important," Mendoza told the Desert Sun. "Our experience with bed bugs though is that people travel with them and bring them to hotels. Once they are in our rooms, we take corrective actions."
Well, as horrible as this experience was, look at the bright side, Sabrina. You are slaying in those bed bug bite photos.
