A short while ago, news of a model who received a
botched eye-tattoo made the headlines after the attempted body modification left her crying purple tears. Catt Gallinger from Ottowa, Canada, underwent a procedure to tattoo her sclera, which is the white part of the eye. Unfortunately, it went horribly wrong, and 24-year-old Gallinger lost the ability to see out of the tattooed eye.
As eye
tattoos are still relatively new, the artists doing them are still at risk of making mistakes. In this instance, it was the model's boyfriend who did the tattoo, and the damage was caused by "undiluted ink, over injection, not enough/smaller injection sights," Gallinger explained in a post. "As it stands I will have to see a specialist and am at risk of being blind if it doesn't get corrected".
But now she realizes that her actions were a "massive mistake", and may have to take drastic steps to account for the damage.
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At the beginning of last month, the model posted on Instagram to let her followers know the situation with her eye. "Surgery, no sedation, 23rd [November]. So next Thursday. If this doesn't work, my cornea is way too thin and at high risk of rupturing. If it does rupture before, during or afterwards, I lose my eye," she said.
After the surgery, she posted two pictures of her swollen eye and explained that it had not been entirely successful.
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When she originally posted about the damage to her eye, she insisted:
"I am NOT sharing this with you to cause trouble, I am sharing this to warn you to research who you get your procedures by as well as how the procedure should be properly done."
Since then:
"I have been to the hospital three times, I had no furry pets to cause any dander, and I wash my hands every time I do anything with my eye, both before and afterwards. I was on antibiotic drops for the first week and a half and have been on steroid drops for four days now, with little success at bringing down the internal swelling. The external swelling lasted for almost a week"
At its worst point, Gallinger was at high risk of losing her eye, as the extent of the damage posed a great risk. However, just a matter of hours ago, the 24-year-old posted an ambiguous update to Instagram.
The picture appears to show her eye almost back to normal (except for its purple coloring, of course). The swelling has almost gone, the skin around her eye has returned to its usual color, and Gallinger herself looks fairly happy with life.
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If this is the case, and Gallinger is on the road to recovery, there may be an almost happy ending to the story after all. It is likely that the model will have permanent vision damage, and it is evident that she regrets her decision, but at least the young woman will be able to keep both her eyes.
If nothing else, her experience serves as a warning to others who are considering having a new procedure: make your choices carefully, and know the potential risks before going ahead with any kind of
modification.
