Tattoo warning after woman faces foot amputation after horrific ink-related infection

A mother-of-five has warned people looking for tattoos to check their artist’s credentials beforehand – after a botched job almost cost her part of her leg.

Kirsty Griffiths paid £130 for a floral design on her right ankle while on holiday in Turkey last month.

But within 48 hours, the 34-year-old had developed life-threatening cellulitis that had spread to her stomach and gallbladder.

Cellulitis is a bacterial infection that affects the deep layers of the skin and can spread to other parts of the body.

It requires urgent antibiotics and, if left untreated, can infect multiple body parts, eventually leading to fatal sepsis.

Doctors struggled to control Ms Griffiths’ infection and reportedly told her that if the situation continued, her foot may have to be amputated.

“Two different surgeons came to see me and one said if this doesn’t resolve, I might have to have my foot amputated,” she said.

‘I cried and screamed in pain every night. It was morphine drip after morphine drip and the painkillers still made me feel the pain.”

Kirsty Griffiths, 34, from Liverpool, suffered life-threatening cellulitis infection after a tattoo went wrong.

Fortunately, the infection eventually cleared up after about four days in the hospital.

“Thankfully the antibiotics started to work,” she said. ‘Now my tattoo looks all crusty, crusty and black. It itches a lot and is still very painful.’

Ms Griffiths said she still walks with a limp and has to take paracetamol every four hours to numb the pain.

‘I can’t sleep all night [at the moment] because I’m in so much pain and I can’t put any weight on it.’

She thinks the infection was caused by the tattoo artist inserting the needle too deeply into the skin.

Reflecting on her decision to have the body art done, she said: ‘I already had a rose on my ankle but I didn’t like it so he made a better, bigger rose to cover it up.

‘[In the appointment, the tattoo artist] I made the sketch first. But just as he finished that part, I started feeling dizzy and like I was going to faint.

‘I told him I wasn’t feeling well and got up.

Ms Griffiths said she trusted the tattoo parlor she chose because it was located in a hotel.

Cellulitis is a bacterial infection that invades the deeper layers of the skin. Without prompt action, it can spread to organs and lead to fatal sepsis.

‘I couldn’t see anything and I had to throw up. He [the tattoo artist] said it was because of my blood sugars and at the time I thought maybe it was.

‘I had never experienced this before in my life. At first the pain was okay, but it started to become more and more painful.

‘It was the kind of pain that made you feel sick. I couldn’t bear it, so I kept asking him to stop so I could breathe.

‘I didn’t realize he was going too far with the needle and causing the pain.

‘It looked really nice when he first did it and I didn’t like it. I thought it must just be painful because it was on my ankle.”

Mrs Griffiths said she took her children to a Halloween party that night and “didn’t think about it at all” until she woke up the next morning to find her leg was “double the size of my other one.”

‘It was raw red and it looked like my tattoo had blisters. TThere was fluid behind it, which was the infection.”

She flew home from Turkey and suffered ‘excruciating pain’ during the flight home.

Ms Griffiths said she has been experiencing itchy scabs that have formed over the ink.

‘I had to put my foot higher on the back of the chair because it swelled. It was the worst four hours of my life.”

Shortly after landing back in Britain, she was immediately rushed to Whiston Hospital in Prescot, Merseyside, where tests confirmed cellulitis.

“I feel stupid because when I go to Turkey I usually go to people I know to get tattoos and that was always fine,” Ms Griffiths said.

“I didn’t do any research or background checks on this person because I thought they were safe.”

She is now warning other holidaymakers about the dangers of getting a tattoo abroad.

‘I would say to others who are thinking of getting a tattoo abroad, you need to do your research and look at the person you have chosen to do the job.

‘I wonder how many other people have been left this way. It’s kept me from getting all kinds of tattoos.’

When journalists contacted the tattoo studio, they claimed Ms Griffiths wore socks after the appointment, which caused the infection.

A representative said: ‘We have a camera in the store and all tools are clean and sterilized. She wasn’t doing well when she first got the tattoo and I often asked her if she was feeling okay.’