Kirsty Campbell Russell is urging others to be careful
Mason Abrams with mum Kirsty Campbell Russell and her partner Garteh Abrams(Image: Kennedy News & Media )
A five-year-old lad has been left with a giant dragon-shaped SCAR – after suffering an allergic reaction to a holiday black henna tattoo. Kirsty Campbell Russell flew out to Sharm El-Sheikh in Egypt with her partner and five kids in December last year for a relaxing nine-day holiday.
During their trip the family all decided to get henna designs drawn onto their arms on a day out at the local shopping centre. Kirsty opted for a traditional pattern on her hand and her youngest son Mason Abrams, five, had a dragon design drawn onto his right arm.
The 36-year-old mum says everyone loved their designs and suffered no irritation from the henna while abroad. But when her son Mason’s design had rubbed off 10 days later, the cleaning business owner claims he was left with a red, raised imprint of the dragon on his arm.
Kirsty says her son wasn’t in any pain, but when the design didn’t fade, she booked a video call GP appointment that confirmed Mason had suffered an allergic reaction to the dye. She claims the doctor said this is because the artist had used black henna and not traditional henna, which is a brown-orange colour.
According to the British Skin Foundation, black henna frequently contains the chemical dye p-Phenylenediamine [PPD], which can cause blistering, painful burns and scarring to the skin. Kirsty is now urging others to check the ingredients in the henna being used before getting an inking as she now fears her son will be scarred for life.
Kirsty, from Basingstoke in Hampshire, said: “He’s the youngest of five, so if all the others are getting one, it was a bit mean not to let him get one. I had one done too and mine and everyone else’s was fine.
“The tattoo looked fine and he didn’t complain at all. It was only 10 days later, when the black had faded, that we realised that he had reacted.
“It was raised and you can still see it now. I think he’s going to be scarred for life, it looks like a scar now.
“I noticed that it was an allergic reaction and I did feel a bit guilty about it, but we asked if it was safe and the guy showed us photos of toddlers getting it done. We trusted where we had it done.
“The doctor just told us to be careful in the sunshine and put extra suncream on it until it’s fully healed. You can still see it on his arm and I’m worried it’s going to be there forever and he’s going to be left with a permanent tattoo from it.”
Kirsty is now warning people about getting henna tattoos on holiday and says they should always check the ingredients in the dye before being inked.
Kirsty said: “I would tell people to check what ingredients are in the henna and note it shouldn’t be black, it should be brown. The man just told me it was safe and I just presumed henna was henna. I didn’t realise there were different types.”