- Gemma Hardy, 24, from Derby was left critically ill because of infection
- Happened after she had a bouquet of flowers tattooed on her foot
- Doctors said infection was so bad, she was at risk of amputation
- Has now had a new tattoo in same place to conceal damaged skin
By
Ruth Styles
09:50 EST, 20 February 2014
|
10:43 EST, 20 February 2014
They might not always come out as expected but with more than a fifth of British adults admitting to having at least one, tattoos are more popular than ever.
But although the majority of tattoos heal quickly, not everyone gets off so lightly, among them Gemma Hardy, a 24-year-old hearing clinic assistant from Derby.
Miss Hardy’s ordeal began after she had a bouquet of flowers tattooed onto her foot – the latest in a series of inkings created by her regular tattooist.
Devastating: Gemma Hardy, 24, from Derby, almost had to have her foot amputated after a tattoo got infected
At first, everything seemed fine but when she woke up the following morning, it was to find her foot had swollen to twice the normal size.
‘I went home, got up the next day and my foot was two to three times the size it was the day before,’ she remembers.
Despite the pain and swelling, Miss Hardy decided not to visit a doctor and assumed that the reaction was caused by the location of the tattoo.
But two weeks later, feeling increasingly unwell and with her foot still hugely swollen, friends insisted that she see a doctor.
Once at hospital, doctors finally had the chance to examine her swollen foot – and Miss Hardy was left horrified by what they found.
Painful: Gemma calls the offending tattoo ‘the tomato’ because of its red and angry appearance
‘They diagnosed me with blood poisoning – septicaemia,’ she says. ‘[Doctors said] if I’d left it any longer, I would have been looking at amputation.
She added: ‘It was really, really swollen and
infected.They told me
that if I’d left it much longer, the infection could have gone to my
bone and then I would have looked at losing my foot.’
The thought of what could have happened left her devastated. ‘I was 20-years-old and someone told me I
was running the risk of losing my foot,’ she reveals.
‘I was absolutely beside myself.
I’d got a full time job, I was horse riding, I had a motorbike and I
was about to lose all of that because of a tattoo.’
Luckily, doctors were able to save her foot but the once-pretty floral tattoo was left looking hideously angry and red.
Fix: Gemma has since had the offending tattoo covered with a picture of a Venus Flytrap
‘I refer to it as “the tomato†because it’s angry and red and slightly like a tomato,’ adds Miss Hardy.
Despite her brush with disaster, Miss Hardy admits that she’s still a fan of tattoos and, in a bid to tackle the unpleasant inking, is to have new artwork tattooed over the top.
‘I don’t really want to sacrifice having a finished, beautiful tattoo because this happened,’ she reveals.
‘I’m nervous about having my tattoo done
again on my foot just because of how bad the reaction was before but
I’ll get past that to get it finished.
She added: ‘I’m really looking forward to it being
normal and being able to wear the kind of shoes I want to wear; just
showing it off and having it be something I’m proud of.’
Gemma appears on Extreme Beauty Disasters, tonight at 8pm on TLC
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Tito,
Southampton, United Kingdom,
moments ago
shame she was not going for a neck tattoo.
Sandy Brown,
London,
moments ago
That is your own fault dear.
mcgraw,
Dublin,
moments ago
Not surprised with the state of that tat!!
pumpkin,
kirkby-in-Ashfield, United Kingdom,
9 minutes ago
‘Gross’
Mikki,
Manchester,
15 minutes ago
Have you thought of wearing thick tights to cover them all up!
DC,
swansea, United Kingdom,
18 minutes ago
Why is it always the lower class people that get tattoos ?
Jude,
Westcliff on Sea, United Kingdom,
18 minutes ago
There’s artwork and there’s a mess and those tats are just awful.
Ming the Merciless,
Planet With Unmentionable Name, United Kingdom,
27 minutes ago
Classy
justin.fuller,
San Pedro, Philippines,
30 minutes ago
The penalty of getting tattooe’ed!
Wossup,
Lichfield, United Kingdom,
32 minutes ago
Oh dear. One can cover oneself in gold and still end up looking like brass.
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