When Sally Lutkin decided to have her grandchildren's names tattooed on her leg, she imagined ending up with a beautiful, life-long reminder of her loved ones.
Instead, she was left with a gruesome black hole and a lasting scar in the middle of her calf, after being rushed to hospital for emergency surgery.
Mrs Lutkin, 49, had a rose surrounded by the names grandchildren Harvey, seven, Harvey Junior, six, and Cooper, one, tattooed above her left ankle in November 2013.
But the tattoo quickly became so swollen that she was in agony and couldn't walk, forcing her to rush to A&E.
Doctors carried out emergency surgery to stop the infection spreading to her bone.
She was left with a bloody hole resembling a gunshot in the middle of her rose design, as well as an unsightly scar she will have to live with for years.
Mrs Lutkin, of Kingston upon Hull, East Yorkshire, said: 'It really upset me because it's something that I wanted just for me - and it really didn't turn out that way.
'I was in the hospital for a week and it was so difficult because it's the longest I've ever been away from my babies.
'They had to operate before the infection spread down to the bone and I don't know what would have happened if they had not caught it earlier.
'The pain was horrendous - it was indescribable. I was in agony and the swelling was so bad that I couldn't walk.'
Her daughter Laura, 28, noticed that the tattoo was turning red the day after the needle work was complete.
But Mrs Lutkin, who works as a cleaner, dismissed it as a normal part of the healing process.
She was horrified when the symptoms worsened and her leg began to swell until she could no longer walk.
Her husband Peter, 57, a labourer, rushed her to hospital and she remained there for a week while she battled the nightmare infection.
Mrs Lutkin, who has five children, admitted that even 18 months later she is still feeling the effects of the infection.
Mrs Lutkin wanted a tattoo of a rose and her grandchildren's names (Harvey, seven, is pictured, left). But it became infected and after an emergency operation she was left with a gruesome hole in her leg (right)
She has been left with a scar even 18 months after the ordeal, and has vowed never to have another tattoo again in her life
She said: 'I still get aches and pains from it but I just have to get on with my life.
'We're a really close family and they were shocked.
'It was a hard thing for them to see me in so much pain, especially for my eldest grandkids.
'It ruined Christmas because I couldn't go out Christmas shopping and all the little ones wanted to put the decorations up - in the end, my kids had to put them up for me.'
The ordeal forced her to abandon plans to add the names of one-year-olds Lottie and Harper - who were born within six days of one another - to the body art.
And, with another grandchild on the way, Mrs Lutkin insists she is not tempted to tamper with ink any more.
She said: 'It's put me off for life. I'd had tattoos before but I'll never have one again.
'I won't even risk getting the tattoo removed.
'No one is laying their hands on me ever again after this.'
Her leg became red and swollen - so much so that she was in agony and couldn't walk (pictured). She said: 'No one is laying their hands on me ever again after this.'
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