A ten-year-old boy was left with a weeping wound on his arm after his black henna tattoo became infected.
Lynne Humprey’s son suffered chemical burns after his mother bought him a dragon tattoo when they were on holiday in Turkey, but twelve days later when it became lumpy and painful, the mother of two removed it hoping he’d got away somewhat unharmed with just a light mark.
However, Caden had an allergic reaction to the black henna, which became infected and caused his skin to break and ooze yellow fluid, with blisters even fanning to his torso and even up to his chin.
His mother even feared Caden would contract sepsis but after three trips to the doctor, a course of antibiotics and two days off school he’s much better.
She said that she’s now keen to raise awareness of the extreme reactions that the temporary body art can cause and she didn’t want any other child to endure the same experience.
Images captured by Lynne reveal the outline of the tattoo after she removed the henna and then it became increasingly red, sore and raised.
Photos show how his skin became scabby and cracked as a mottled rash spanned up his body, leaving a red scar in the same pattern even after it healed.
Lynne, of Anglesey, North Wales, said that a lot of her friends were going on holiday and that’s why she posted it.
She said that they do them in Turkey, Egypt, everywhere, and that when she Googled them after they got home because of her son’s reaction to the tattoo, it wasn’t until then that she discovered how bad these reactions were, and that had she known there was no chance that she would have let her son have one done, and that she just wanted to make sure no other child gets one done.
She said that even though two of the party had no side effects whatsoever, the next time they go back they would never be permitted to have one done, just in case.
She said it says to have a skin test done but even if they’d had one done, it wouldn’t have shown up until they got home because it took days for it to come out, and she said for her personally, she wouldn’t want to take that chance again.
Year after year children get scarred by henna tattoos. Babies that drown in the bath because they were left alone. Toddlers are strangled by looped blind cords et cetera, but every time parents have never heard about it happening before.
The saying goes that one wasn’t born yesterday, but with some people, it does make you wonder where they’ve been all their lives.
THE MONTHLY MOSQUITO 