Grandmother left with gruesome gaping hole in leg after tattoo becomes infected

A grandmother of five who decided to ink a tribute to her grandchildren was forced to undergo emergency surgery after the tattoo went horribly wrong.

Sally Lutkin, 49, of Hull, East Yorkshire, was bed-bound for a week after getting the names of grandkids Harvey, seven, Harvey Junior, six, and Cooper, one, tattooed on her left ankle in November 2013.

The tattoo quickly swelled up, forcing Sally to rush to A&E where she went under the knife to stop the infection spreading to her bone.

The horrific infection left a gruesome bloody hole in the middle of her rose design and she has been left with a lasting scar as a horrible reminder of her ordeal.

Sally said: "It really upset me because it is something that I wanted just for me and it really did not turn out that way.

"I was in the hospital for a week and it was so difficult because it's the longest I've ever been away from my babies.

"They had to operate before the infection spread down to the bone and I don't know what would have happened if they had not caught it earlier.

"The pain was horrendous - it was indescribable. I was in agony and the swelling was so bad that I couldn't walk."

Daughter Laura, 28, noticed that the tattoo was turning red the day after the needle work was complete - but cleaner Sally, who has five children, dismissed it.

But she was horrified when the symptoms worsened with her leg swelling until she could no longer walk.

Her labourer husband Peter, 57, rushed her to hospital and she remained there for a week while she battled the nightmare infection.

Sally admitted that even 18 months later she is still feeling the effects of the infection.

Sally said: "I still get aches and pains from it but I just have to get on with my life.

"We're a really close family and they were shocked. It was a hard thing for them to see me in so much pain, especially for my eldest grandkids.

"It ruined Christmas because I couldn't go out Christmas shopping and all the little ones wanted to put the decorations up - in the end, my kids had to put them up for me."

The ordeal forced her to abandon plans to add the names of one-year-olds Lottie and Harper - who were born within six days of one another - to the body art.

And, with another grandchild on the way, Sally insists she is not tempted to tamper with ink any more.

Sally said: "It's put me off for life. I'd had tattoos before but I'll never have one again. I won't even risk getting the tattoo removed.

"No one is laying their hands on me ever again after this."

If you think that was bad then check out this video of this buttock implant that went horribly wrong.