A TATTOOED mother is left heartbroken after she was unable to take her children shopping for school supplies because she had too many tattoos.
Melissa Sloan is no stranger to making headlines for her 800-plus tattoos and the consequences she’s faced as a result.
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Now the mother of seven says buying school supplies was too much of a hassle because strangers never left her alone.
Melissa, 47, says people just can’t accept her appearance and don’t understand the impact it has on her family.
According to Plymouth Liveshe said, “I hate that I can’t take my kids to buy school supplies.
“I usually avoid going to the store – my partner does most of our shopping for us – but it’s especially painful not being able to participate in such a usual parental activity.
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“I would love to go out with my kids and help them choose stuff, but strangers won’t leave me alone.”
The Kidderminster woman said children would point at her laughing – or crying if they were scared.
She added: “When we stand in the children’s section or the school section in the shops, other parents stare at us.
“Their children point at me. Some laugh or start crying when they see me, because they are afraid.”
Melissa covers her face with a thick foundation when she goes out.
Despite all the problems, she doesn’t regret getting a tattoo. She’s even called “Crayola”.
She said: “Although it can be a huge inconvenience, I don’t regret my tattoos – I love the way they look.
“If other people can’t handle it, that’s their problem.”
Melissa faces other problems as she is banned from the local pub and church.
She stays away from the beach and doesn’t wear bikinis because children are afraid of them.
She also previously shared that she has been struggling to find a job for over twenty years.
Last year she told The Daily Star: “I haven’t worked, I’m not proud to say it, but I haven’t worked for 20 years.”
At the time, she was trying to conceive her eighth child with her partner Luke, but she said she hadn’t had sex in three years.
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But because she was 46 at the time, she feared her age might pose a risk.
She said: “At my age it’s a bit scary and if I do it now I’ll stop and have it done when I’m 47.”
Melissa got her first tattoo in her twenties and hasn’t stopped since.
She has had hundreds of them applied to her face and body, including Union Jack flags, hearts and an image of the infamous Kray twins.
Melissa previously revealed that she uses tattoos as therapy to cope with years of sexual abuse at the hands of her half-brother.
She filed a police report in 2012 after Gavin Sloan tried to come back into her life and allegedly made sick sexual demands.
But the housewife’s case was dropped when she decided not to pursue the charges further.
The rapist was eventually sentenced to 21 years in prison for rape and child sexual abuse.
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