Man Dies After Swimming With New Religious Tattoo Despite Warnings
A 31-year-old man died after the new tattoo on his leg became infected because he went for a swim.
The victim, whose identity wasn't released, was a Latino man living in Texas whose leg became infected after ignoring warnings about swimming after getting inked.
According to the British Medical Journal which published the case report, the victim acquired a large tattoo on his leg depicting two hands clasped in prayer, a cross on the background and the inscription "Jesus is my life" below. Five days later, he went swimming in the Gulf of Mexico.
After three days, he was admitted at Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas complaining of pain on both of his legs and feet, chills, a fever and redness around his tattoo. Doctors described him as "among the sicker of the patients" that came in. He entered into septic shock and was placed on a ventilator.
The patient's condition deteriorated within a short time. He suffered from more bruising and skin discoloration as mounds of fluid began to collect in his legs. Making matters worse was that the man had chronic liver disease for drinking six 12-ounce beers a day, according to CNN.
The victim also contracted Vibrio vulnificus, a bacteria infection which could occur with the exposure of open wounds to contaminated salt of brackish water. One of the top rules after getting a new tattoo is to avoid swimming. The man died two months later.
Health experts have long warned of the dangers of obtaining tattoos, chief of which is exposure to tainted chemicals that could cause skin cancer. A Joint Research Centre report of the European Commission also revealed that up to five percent of tattoo procedures end up in bacterial infection due to unhygienic settings.
