When an eighteen-year-old Belgian teenager decided to get a tattoo, little did she realise that three years later, her story would still be read by people around the world – for all the wrong reasons?
The girl had a total of fifty-six stars tattooed on her face, which she instantly regretted, so much so that she accused the tattoo artist of inking them against her will. She claimed that she had only asked for three, but had fallen asleep during the procedure and that the tattoo artists had carried on despite her instructions.
It later became clear that she had made this story up because she was worried about her father’s reaction to the tattoos. She herself felt that the tattoos made her look like a ‘freak’, and one can only imagine the impact that the tattoos could have on a person’s self-confidence in such a situation.
While the tattoo artist has been absolved of blame and has received widespread publicity following the tattooing, the girl is still sporting all fifty-six tattoos three years on. Unfortunately, tattoo regret is not uncommon, even in cases less extreme than this. For those it affects, laser tattoo removal is likely to be the only option.