- Tyler’s arm was burning for days after they returned back from a trip to Cyprus
- READ MORE: Mother fears daughter, 7, will be ‘scarred for life’ after reaction to holiday henna tattoo
A 13-year-old was left with ‘weeping’ chemical burns after getting a black henna tattoo on a family holiday to Cyprus – but hid the agonising reaction from his family because he’d heard that ‘tattoos were supposed to hurt’.
Tyler Skee’s arm was ‘burning’ six days after returning home from the £2,400 trip abroad – and he has since been seen by the burns unit and 14 specialists, even being pulled out of school, to try and deal with the ‘nightmare’.
Shocking pictures show the young boy’s red, scabbing and blistering wound covering his entire forearm – from his hand to his elbow – in the shape of a dragon.
His mother Chloe, 34, form Gateshead in Tyne and Wear, says doctors believe the reaction was caused by paraphenylenediamine (PPD), a chemical commonly found in black henna, which is banned for use in skin products by the European Union.
While PPD can be lawfully used in hair dyes, levels are strictly controlled. But experts warn that black henna often exceeds these amounts to give a darker colour.
![Tyler Skee's arm was 'burning' six days after returning home from the £2,400 trip abroad. Pictured with his black henna tattoo](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/12/27/14/79369003-12903927-image-a-25_1703688133744.jpg)
Tyler Skee’s arm was ‘burning’ six days after returning home from the £2,400 trip abroad. Pictured with his black henna tattoo
She also explained that her son has autism – leading to a high pain tolerance, as well as taking things very literally – so he didn’t seek help even though the reaction was burning his arm for days.
The mother let Tyler and his sister Brooke, 10, get the €15 ink designs on the last day of their holiday at a shop after it was recommended by a local.
Chloe posted the ordeal to Facebook, where she warned others of the product and said she feared her son was going to be left with a permanent scar.
Now – she’d ‘never’ let her children get a henna tattoo and is urging other parents to be careful.
‘Everybody who I see, especially friends who have just had young babies, I say if you ever go on holiday, don’t let them get a henna tattoo,’ she added.
‘In [Tyler’s] mind, he must have thought that was normal so he never said anything to us.
‘It wasn’t until the Sunday [October 29] at my Gran’s for dinner and he said “Mam is this supposed to still be burning?”
‘It’s a nightmare Tyler’s been through, bless him. He’s had to be off school and everything.
![Tyler's arm was burning days after he got the tattoo](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/12/27/14/79369967-12903927-image-a-34_1703688284369.jpg)
![The design stretches across his whole arm](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/12/27/14/79369001-12903927-image-m-33_1703688274969.jpg)
Shocking pictures show the young boy’s red, scabbing and blistering wound covering his entire forearm – from his hand to his elbow – in the shape of a dragon
‘He’s had loads of time off for numerous GP appointments. I’ve had to go into school and put creams on and take medications in when he has been there.’
After being seen by several professions and being put on courses of antibiotics, Chloe says Tyler’s wounds were weeping and sticking to his clothes.
He then came out in a full-body rash, which doctors say was due to an autoimmune response to the infection, where his body started to attack itself.
The young boy was also recently at a burns unit, where Tyler’s mother says he was seen by 14 medical professionals who didn’t know how to treat him before he was given more steroid creams and antiviral medicine.
Chloe says Tyler’s wound is still not fully healed.
‘[A plastic surgeon] said it’s gone past the point of it being a chemical burn. It’s now contact dermatitis because of the reaction his body has had,’ she revealed.
‘Tyler’s been an absolute little trooper, he’s never once complained of being in pain. The only thing he’s complained of is being itchy, and that was more his body.
‘He’s got a few other [medical] tests going on, and with the whole thing with his arm on top of that, a few weeks ago he just broke down in tears, which isn’t Tyler because he doesn’t really show his emotions.
‘It was absolutely heartbreaking. I could have stood there and cried with him but I didn’t want to do that because I wanted to be strong for him.’
![The mother let Tyler and his sister Brooke, 10, get the €15 ink designs on the last day of their holiday at a shop after it was recommended by a local. Pictured: Chloe with Tyler and Brooke](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/12/27/14/79369005-12903927-image-m-35_1703688298202.jpg)
The mother let Tyler and his sister Brooke, 10, get the €15 ink designs on the last day of their holiday at a shop after it was recommended by a local. Pictured: Chloe with Tyler and Brooke
And the ordeal has affected other family members too.
‘It’s been horrible for his little sister as well because she’s got ADHD so she worries a lot,’ she said.
‘At one point when it was really bad she had got it into her head that he was going to have his arm chopped off. She’s been an absolute mess as well.
‘It is actually looking a lot better now and the dermatologist thinks it won’t scar.
‘I’m still not convinced because his skin is healing and there are certain places where it still looks white.’
Chloe says she has reached out to the tattoo shop to alert them of the situation but is yet to receive a response.
It’s not the first time a parent has put out a warning to others over the common holiday treat.
In September, a mother-of-two feared that her seven-year-old daughter will be ‘scarred for life’ with a butterfly print on her arm due a reaction to a henna tattoo while on vacation.
Kirsty Newton, 37, let daughter Matilda Newton get the 3cm-tall temporary tattoo on her right forearm while staying at an all-inclusive Turkish hotel this summer.
![Chloe says she has reached out to the tattoo shop to alert them of the situation but is yet to receive a response. Pictured: Tyler's wound](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/12/27/14/79369007-12903927-image-a-30_1703688262813.jpg)
Chloe says she has reached out to the tattoo shop to alert them of the situation but is yet to receive a response. Pictured: Tyler’s wound
Despite initially appearing fine, the black henna tattoo became red and itchy after they returned home to Pudsey, West Yorkshire, resulting in two pharmacy trips.
Matilda was later rushed to hospital after the skin around the tattoo started bleeding, with doctors confirming that she had suffered an allergic reaction to a chemical in the henna.
She is now urging others to be cautious when letting their children get henna tattoos and to make sure they have a skin test first.
When the family-of-four returned back to the UK, Matilda’s butterfly print began causing a burning sensation on her skin.
The family made a few pharmacy trips in a bid to manage the reaction themselves.
But Kirsty rushed Matilda to Leeds General Infirmary when her skin started to crack and bleed.
Doctors there confirmed Matilda was having an allergic reaction to the black henna.
She was prescribed anti-allergy tablets, steroid and antibiotic creams to help heal her scorched skin.
Before getting the medication, Matilda was sick and had a rash on her tummy, which doctors say could have been linked to the allergic reaction.
Kirsty believes that the burn was caused by PPD.
‘Please be cautious when letting your children get henna tattoos,’ she said.
‘People need to know what happened and make sure they have skin tests done if they do have a tattoo before having one of these done.
‘Matilda should have had a skin test done before but this wasn’t offered.’