She returned to Australia and was placed in hospital quarantine, suffering seizures.
"My liver, my kidneys, my heart and my brain started to shut down."
Doctors have reportedly disputed her version of events, however, telling Nine she developed an infection because she failed to look after herself post-operatively.
After four years and radical corrective surgery that has left her permanently scarred and feeling "less of a woman", O'Keefe says she now struggles to feed her baby daughter and is desperate to warn others about cheap cosmetic holidays overseas.
At least three Australian women have died undergoing procedures including liposuction and breast augmentation in foreign countries.
In 2015, Gold Coast woman Evita Sarmonikas died on the operating table while having buttock implants in Mexico.
"At least 15 per cent of my breast surgery practice is correcting problems from overseas," says censor in chief of the Australasian College of Cosmetic Surgery Dr John Flynn told the Adelaide Advertiser.