(WSVN) - Tattoo artists traditionally tell all of their customers how to care for their new ink, including the caveat to not go swimming for several weeks. Unfortunately for one man, not paying attention to those instructions cost him his life.
The British Medical Journal detailed the case of the 31-year-old unidentified man, who had gotten a tattoo on his right calf just five days before he contracted a flesh-eating bacteria infection when he went for a swim in the Gulf of Mexico.
Tattoo after-care guidelines warn that tattoos are essentially open wounds, and say those with new ink should wait a minimum of two to three weeks before swimming to allow the skin to heal, since most sources of water harbor multiple kinds of bacteria.
The man had chosen a crucifix and pair of praying hands for his tattoo, which developed a rash after he went swimming, Fox News reports. The man soon began suffering from chills and fever; by the time he went to the hospital, his calf had turned purple.
Man dies after developing sepsis when his fresh tattoo wound became infected from swimming in the sea https://t.co/3p8Rz80Gey
— Daily Mail Online (@MailOnline) May 31, 2017
Within 24 hours of his hospital admission, the journal said the man’s organs started failing, and he was put on life support.
After two weeks, the man’s condition began to improve, but doctors said his body went into septic shock, causing his kidneys to fail.
Doctors believe the man’s years of alcohol abuse and subsequent cirrhosis of the liver left him more susceptible to infection.
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