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A Colombian has shared on social media how she fell ill when a tattoo she got over a year ago became infected, resulting in her suffering a miscarriage and becoming partially paralysed, Metro reports.
Luisa Fernando (16) was told by doctors that she would never walk again after the tattoo, which she’d had done on her breast, became infected and the infection eventually spread to her spinal cord.
Although doctors tried draining some of the fluid caused by the infection to minimise damage, she developed issues with her appendix, Mirror reports.
“As I had to take a lot of medicine [to combat the infection], I had a miscarriage and lost the son I was carrying,” she said on social media.
Luisa – who got the tattoo before she became pregnant – also needed treatment for the severe depression she suffered after the miscarriage, Kidspot writes. Then came the added blow of being told she was paralysed.
“It was hard when I was told by the surgeons that I would not able to walk again.
“And it was hard when I left hospital because I needed help to get in and out of my wheelchair – and my mum is not strong enough.”
The 16-year-old is now using social media to warn others of the dangers of tattoos.
“A year ago I had a tattoo done and it caused the bacteria that affected the spinal cord and stopped me from walking again,” she wrote.
Doctors have also informed that she needs more treatment and another operation to get some of her mobility back but it comes with a huge price tag. Her friends and family are now trying to raise the £3 600 (more than R66 500) needed.
Sources: Metro, Mirror, Kidspot
