A SCHOOLGIRL is waiting for the results of blood tests after secretly visiting an unregistered tattooist working from a block of flats.
Health chiefs sent out an urgent warning last week after reports that the man was targeting secondary school pupils in Tameside, offering tattoos for as little as é5.
Letters were sent to 2,500 parents in the area, alerting them to the situation and giving them a helpline to ring. It is not known how many youngsters the tattooist has worked on, though one teenager, who had two done, says it could be as many as 100.
Stacey Starowojtow, 16, visited him twice for a Tinkerbell design on her back and the name of her brother Jack, who died earlier this year, on her stomach.
Stacey, a pupil at Astley Sports College, kept both secret from mum Sharon, of Southfield Close, Dukinfield, until the letter arrived, when she admitted what she had done.
She said: "Everyone wants tattoos, and in the tattoo shops they won't let you have one because you have to be 18. Some people had had them at school, so I thought it was OK.
"When I found out about this I was gutted. I just wish I'd never had them done."
'Scared'
"I think some people are too scared to tell their parents they've had a tattoo and scared of finding out if they've got something. "They should, though. It's serious, and if they don't sort it out now, they will regret it."
Stacey has now had blood tests and faces an anxious wait for the results.
Dr Lorraine Lighton, of the Greater Manchester Health Protection Unit, said: "It can be tempting to use an unregistered tattooist because they are often cheaper, but that is false economy.
"Any prospective client finding himself or herself in dirty premises, where it is obvious that instruments are not being properly sterilised between customers, should walk out immediately. Don't put your health at risk."
* ANYONE who has had a tattoo and is worried about their health can phone the confidential helpline on 0800 3457793, between 8am and 8pm, on any day until Saturday.
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This makes my blood boil! These poor kids are now at risk of being infected with Hepatiis C, HIV etc. This guy should be prosecuted for his actions as he has effectively put their lives in danger.
Dont they teach kids the dangers of sharing needles and that things like this can lead to some bad diseases? its the same as unprotected sex there needs to be more taught to these kids
How stupid is this girl . so her mates have had them done by this bloke. so if they jumped of a bridge would she? im sorry but you pay for what you get.
After years of advertising and trying to educate people about STDs ect ,i wonder why the message about aids Ect isnt getting through to these kids? Surely theve seen adverts about needles and other adverts telling them about aids and all the other deseases you can get through having unprotected sex/sharing needles Ect??????
What a ridiculous fashion this is. I'd like to see the state of these tatoos on 70+ year old skin, although, if kids are stupid enough to go to these illegal tattoists, it is doubtful they will live that long. Don't they realise that tattoos look completely common and naff?
I take it this little princess won't be graduating her class with honours. Didn't she think there was something a little bit strange about getting a coloured tattoo done for a fiver?
I'm sure her parents are heartbroken at the fact that their daughter didn't feel she could come and talk to them about this before it happened.
It's just a shame that now Joe and Jane Public are going to have to foot the bill for all the blood tests. Perhaps if this young woman had to pay the cost of these blood tests herself, then she might think again before doing something so daft.
There are clearly two people to blame here. The guy who did the tattoo, and the girl who let him. I think there's a song called "When Will They Ever Learn?"
young lady, tattoos are for the sailors not for little girls .....
what infuriates me, the parents knew about the first tatoo and where she got it from, as did many others, the risks were pointed out before the tatoo...why now does this only come to light?? the parents knew long before all this.