A mother who decided to get a tattoo on a whim while on holiday nearly faced losing her foot due to complications.
Kirsty Griffiths traveled to the four-star Mirage World Hotel in Marmaris, Turkey, with her family for a sunny getaway. She planned to continue a sleeve tattoo at a salon she regularly visits.
Initially, everything proceeded smoothly for the 34-year-old when she attended her pre-booked tattoo appointment, having left her home in Liverpool, England.
However, after getting a tattoo, she decided on impulse to replace an old design on her right ankle with a new one, as she no longer liked the original tattoo.
Reflecting on the incident, she 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 went on: “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 detailed that upon waking, her ankle had swelled considerably, with the tattooed skin blistering and fluid indicating an infection.
Once back in the UK, she immediately sought hospital care where tests showed she had cellulitis in her ankle, which also caused gallbladder and stomach inflammation. A surgeon reportedly expressed concern that amputation might be necessary.
Griffiths suspects the infection was due to the tattoo artist penetrating the skin too deeply. However, the salon contended that the issue arose because Griffiths covered the area with a sock and applied numbing cream.