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Madison Burgess
A grieving sister who wanted to honour her late brother with a tattoo of his face was left hospitalised after her artist made a potentially dangerous mistake while inking her skin.
Quiniece Washburn forked out $350 (£259.65) to get a black and white portrait of her deceased brother Terrell Brown inked onto her calf - however, she’s been left ‘traumatised’ by the result, which has affected her health.
The 36-year-old, from Louisville, Kentucky, US, said she felt a burning pain when the unnamed artist wiped his work, and then when she left the four-hour session it began leaking ink.
Images show how the four-inch-long tattoo, which was completed in November, became blistered and oozed a bloody and yellow goo until Terrell's face was unrecognisable.
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She described the pain as ‘horrible’ to the extent she could barely walk, meaning she had to drag her leg behind her.
Quiniece claimed that she had to undergo 10 days of hospital treatment for antibiotics and IV treatment, neither of which worked.
She was then admitted to hospital for four days and diagnosed with bacterial skin infection cellulitis.
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The NHS outlines that cellulitis is an infection in the deeper layers of your skin that can be serious if it’s not treated quickly.
It’s caused by bacteria that enters the skin through a cut or crack, making your skin painful, hot and swollen.
Other symptoms include feeling unwell and having flu-like symptoms, with swollen, painful glands.
Quiniece’s infection cleared 'after a month off work', but she's since explained she's 'traumatised' by seeing her dead 25-year-old brother's face oozing like that.
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Although the exact cause for the infection hasn't been determined, she believes it happened while the artist was working on the inking as it was kept covered after the work was complete.
Quiniece explained: "I didn't feel him doing the tattoo but every time he rubbed it with the paper towel it burned and it was something I'd never experienced before when using numbing cream.
"The hospital never said it was from dirty products and I watched him unpack my needles but people say if the gun isn't properly wiped then that can cause infection as well.”
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She warned: "Someone else's fluids may still have been on the gun. I'd tell people to watch your tattoo artist and make sure everything is clean."
The sister added: "The pain was traumatising and it was upsetting because it was the face of my brother.
"It looked like it had blisters on it because it was always moist and leaking with plasma. I could stick a white paper towel on the tattoo and the whole picture would be on it."
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She continued: "There's a picture where it looks like there's green infected stuff oozing out of me. That was taken while I was in the hospital.
"It's pretty ruined. It has a lot of scar tissue on it and it's cracked. His face doesn't look the same at all and it's kind of dark.
"I've been told not to touch it for a year so I'm going to leave it as it is. I came to get a tattoo in memory of my brother and [the artist] failed me.”
The sister emotionally explained that she wanted to get the tattoo so she knew her late brother would be ‘with her’ after he died of an overdose in 2021.
She said that after her hospital admission the tattoo artist refunded the full price of the work and gave her an additional $200.