A British boy on holiday in Spain suffered a reaction to a supposedly temporary tattoo of TV character Bart Simpson, and now the three-year-old may be facing a lifelong relationship with the sitcom scamp -- doctors said the red, raised outline of the tattoo may cause a permanent scar.Vinnie England, of Southmead, Bristol, got the tattoo at a street stall in Benidorm, Spain. The two-inch image was supposedly done in henna, a typically temporary, reddish-brown ink that fades within 10 days. Vinnie's tattoo was black, causing speculation that the ink used may have contained the chemical paraphenylenediamine or PPD, most often found in hair dye.
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Vinnie's mum, Hayley Shipway, 24, noticed a red ring forming around Bart's outline and took him to see the doctor. The reaction was treated with a steroid cream, but the next day it appeared to be worse. Shipway said the reaction resembled a series of pin pricks, and was red and sore.
The reaction is so severe that Shipway was warned that it may scar.
Shipway expressed her guilt over the incident, saying that she often allowed her son to have stick-on tattoos, and that she never expected he'd have a reaction to the one he got in Spain.
I have a tattoo, but I was over 21 when I decided to mark my body for the rest of my life. This poor kid didn't have a choice. But hey, if he ever decides to join the Navy, he'll be ahead of the game.
1. You're never supposed to use henna on a child under the age of six because it can cause a serious allergic reaction on children that young.
Posted at 6:06PM on Oct 3rd 2008 by Uly