A man known as the ‘human ken doll’ has died after a five-month battle with leukaemia.

Celso Santebañes, 20, was a Brazilian model most famous for spending over $50,000 AUD on cosmetic surgery to make him look more like Ken, the boyfriend of toy company Mattel’s iconic Barbie.

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He died from complications after contracting pneumonia at the Federal University of Uberlandia Clinical Hospital in Brazil. After being diagnosed in January, Santebañes spoke of placing less of a priority on his looks. “For me that doesn’t matter,” he told the Latin Times. “What matters is my health now, and I will fight for it.”

Santebañes began his transformation after winning a model contest at 16, and earned fame in his country after being spotted on a talk show in Sao Paolo. He had a number of dramatic cosmetic procedures including four operations on his nose, chin and jaw – plus silicon implants in his chest.