A fake tattoo nearly killed this young boy

Mum’s warning after her son suffered a potentially fatal allergic reaction to a henna tattoo on holiday.

Little Theo Luckett, 7, could be scarred for life, shortly after having the fake tattoo done, Theo started to get blisters, which swelled to be yellow and oozing overnight.

His panic-stricken parents rushed him to the nearest pharmacy in the seaside town of Sozopol where they were told he was suffering an allergic reaction, reports Yahoo.

Mum Alexandra, who lives with husband Jonathan and their daughter Charlotte, nine, in Cheltenham, Glos, said: “Straight away I feared the worst.

“It brought it all back as Theo has an egg allergy and a few times we have had to get ambulances as he has been close to anaphylactic shock.

“His arm looked terrible. The other night he woke up crying as it was so itchy.

henna tatt 2

“I have been told he may be scarred for life. Getting the tattoo was meant to be an enjoyable activity and I feel awful as a parent this has happened.

“There were lots of children there and I am wondering if any of them have been affected too.

“I just want to warn parents of the dangers.”

Alexandra is now applying strong steroid cream on the skin as prescribed by the doctor.

Doctor’s have told them if he goes near the henna tattoo chemical para-phenylene diamine (PPD) again, it could be deadly as it can cause people to stop breathing.

Alexandra added: “Theo’s skin is very inflamed and angry looking now but we have been very lucky and it is starting to heal.

“It’s not infected- the doctor said he was lucky. The PPD can cause the anaphylactic shock.”

Shannan Ponton recently shared a similar experience with his son Max, he shared his story to prevent other parents making the same mistake and kids suffering the same thing his son Max did. Read more here.

Share your comments below

14 Comments

- - skbou said
  - 13 Jun 2019
    10:01 pm
Gosh how scary! I had never thought about an allergic reaction to this, which I now wonder why when as a family we have quite a few allergies to contend with. Definitely something to be aware of.

- - mom94125 said
  - 01 Sep 2017
    11:15 pm
at least he is healing but what a scary experience that would have been for the family! on the bright side, it’s better to have found this out now and this way vs something more major. Hope he heals well though

- - june11 said
  - 18 Aug 2017
    11:05 pm
Anything like that including hair colour (a lot have henna in them), you should have a skin test before using it on larger skin area.

- - mom206279 said
  - 17 Aug 2017
    10:31 am
Poor little kid. Looks nasty.

- - jenniw said
  - 17 Aug 2017
    8:57 am
Poor little man! it is scary how simple things are have such a terrifying impact on our lives

- - nealsq said
  - 17 Aug 2017
    8:56 am
Holy moley! I have heard of this reaction before years ago, I hope he will be ok, at least his scar will look cool

- - Ellen said
  - 17 Aug 2017
    3:35 am
That’s a huge reaction, how scary !
Hope & pray Theo recovers well & soon and that he’s able to stay away from the henna tattoo chemical para-phenylene diamine for the rest of his life.

- - taynik46 said
  - 16 Aug 2017
    10:00 pm
that is such a horrible thing to have happen and that is a big nasty looking reaction. Hope he makes a fully recovery and it doesn’t scar!

- - mom90758 said
  - 16 Aug 2017
    4:27 pm
Oh, not nice at all. Didn’t something similar happen a couple of months ago, maybe in Bali?
- mom93821 replied
  
  17 Aug 2017 , 7:04 am
  That is the story I remember reading about – quite a nasty reaction.
- - cherz said
  - 16 Aug 2017
    1:53 pm
GOSH that’s a very large tattoo as well…praying for a speedy recovery for this chap.

- - BellaB said
  - 16 Aug 2017
    1:45 pm
I’ve heard of this often enough that my kids won’t e trying it.

- - mom93821 said
  - 16 Aug 2017
    1:30 pm
I believe there was another similar case just a little while ago – very scary for the child and the family.

- - mom112217 said
  - 16 Aug 2017
    1:18 pm
The poor boy had his holiday ruined by this,l have heard of a few cases where this has happen.