Mom issues tattoo warning after developing life-threatening infection that left her facing foot amputation
A mom who got a spontaneous tattoo while on vacation almost lost her foot after it went wrong.
Kirsty Griffiths had jetted off to stay at the four-star Mirage World Hotel in Marmaris, Turkey, for a week in the sun with her family - and had planned to get a sleeve tattooed on her at a salon she frequently uses.
Everything was going according to plan when the 34-year-old visited the tattoo parlour, where she had booked an appointment prior to setting off from her home in Liverpool, England.
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But having just been inked, she spontaneously decided to cover up one of her existing tattoos on her right ankle with something new, having fallen out-of-favor with the old design.
Recalling the event, the mom said: "My partner was speaking to the tattoo artist, and he was trying to get him to get a tattoo done. In the end, because he was pestering us every time we walked past, I said I'd get one done because I like tattoos.
"I already had a rose on my ankle but I didn't like it, so he did a better, bigger rose to cover it up. [In the appointment, the tattoo artist] started it, and he did the outline first, and when he was just about to finish the outline, I started going dizzy and felt like I was going to pass out.
"I told him I didn't feel well and I got up and I couldn't see anything and I threw up. He said it was because of my blood sugars, and at this point I thought it might be."
She continued: "I had never experienced this in my life before. To begin with the pain was okay but it started to get more painful the more he was doing. It was the kind of pain that made you feel sick. I couldn't bear the pain and had to keep asking him to stop so I could breathe.
"I didn't realise he was going in too far with the needle and causing the pain. It looked really nice when he first did it and I didn't think anything of it. I thought it just must be painful because it was on my ankle.
"We went off that night to a Halloween party with the kids, and my foot was pulsating with pain, and I could feel my ankle swelling. I went to bed that night, and it was a little red and sore but I thought this was normal."
She explained that when she woke up her ankle had doubled in size, that the skin where her tattoo was had blistered, and there was fluid 'behind it, which was the infection'.
When she returned home, she went straight to hospital where blood tests revealed she had cellulitis in her ankle that had subsequently caused inflammation in her gallbladder and stomach. She claims a surgeon feared her foot would have to be amputated.
Griffiths believes the infection came as a result of the tattooist sticking the needle in too deep; however, when the store was contacted, they argued it was due to Griffiths having covered it up with a sock and used chemical numbing cream.
Joe Yates