Canadian model might get eye removed after botched tattoo job
- 6 years ago
ONTARIO, CANADA — A Canadian model could be losing one of her eyes after a botched procedure left it swollen and purple.
The Washington Post reports that months ago, Catt Gallinger had her sclera stained by a tattoo artist who was also her then-boyfriend. The artist was horribly inexperienced. He didn't mix the ink with saline, and used a large needle instead of a small one.
The injection went too deep into the eye, delivering too much undiluted purple ink in one go, and resulting in an infection. Gallinger felt intense pain shortly afterward, and began leaking purple ink from her eye.
She was prescribed antibiotic eye drops, which only helped spread the infection. Soon, a clump formed around her cornea and her eyes swelled shut.
Doctors were supposed to operate on the 24-year-old so they could cut out the lump, then do an amniotic tissue graft to replace lost tissue. But when Gallinger attempted to go in for surgery without sedation in November, she suffered the worst panic attack of her life.
The missed operation has put her at a higher risk of eye loss, and though sedated surgery is still a possibility, she claims she's now considering eye removal.
Gallinger has been open about her ordeal, and hopes it will serve as a cautionary tale to anyone wanting to get similarly risky procedures done.
The Ontario government has since added a ban on cosmetic eye tattoos to avoid more cases like Gallinger's.
The Washington Post reports that months ago, Catt Gallinger had her sclera stained by a tattoo artist who was also her then-boyfriend. The artist was horribly inexperienced. He didn't mix the ink with saline, and used a large needle instead of a small one.
The injection went too deep into the eye, delivering too much undiluted purple ink in one go, and resulting in an infection. Gallinger felt intense pain shortly afterward, and began leaking purple ink from her eye.
She was prescribed antibiotic eye drops, which only helped spread the infection. Soon, a clump formed around her cornea and her eyes swelled shut.
Doctors were supposed to operate on the 24-year-old so they could cut out the lump, then do an amniotic tissue graft to replace lost tissue. But when Gallinger attempted to go in for surgery without sedation in November, she suffered the worst panic attack of her life.
The missed operation has put her at a higher risk of eye loss, and though sedated surgery is still a possibility, she claims she's now considering eye removal.
Gallinger has been open about her ordeal, and hopes it will serve as a cautionary tale to anyone wanting to get similarly risky procedures done.
The Ontario government has since added a ban on cosmetic eye tattoos to avoid more cases like Gallinger's.