Model Who Once Bragged On “Eyeball Tattoo” Now Going Blind May Lose Eye

A Canadian woman who once boasted about her new edgy eyeball tattoo, has now posted graphic images of the same eye oozing a sickly purple dye. Catt Gallinger says a risky tattoo on her eyeball may now leave her partially blind.

Gallinger, 24, a body modification enthusiast from Ottawa, is trying to warn others of the dangers of getting a “scleral tattoo,” which consists of injecting ink into the white part of the eyeball.

Gallinger, who has a forked tongue, piercings and tattoos, has undergone painful procedures before, but she wrote on Facebook that immediately after the tattoo was done on Sep. 5, purple dye began streaming down her face, and her eye was swollen shut the next day. “I took my eyesight for granted and trusted someone I shouldn’t have,” she said in a video posted Monday. “And even if this heals, my eyesight is not going to be back.” Gallinger told Global News that she knows multiple people who have tattooed scleras and haven’t had an issue, but she says the person who did hers was unqualified and pushed her to do it until she “gave in.” source

Gallinger is currently meeting with specialists and says she’s had several trips to the hospital after the tattoo caused a “hemorrhage and sclera tearing.”

“During the first two weeks, he kept telling me it was fine, but I had a feeling that it wasn’t normal,” she said.

Gallinger says she’s considering taking legal action against the artist who performed the risky procedure.

She says her vision is blurry and she sees double. Because of the location of the tattoo, there is only so much doctors will be able to do.

“You can’t laser it away like you can on your skin,” Dr. Setareh Ziai, an assistant professor of ophthalmology at the University of Ottawa Eye Institute told Global News. “No physician in their right mind would ever recommend this to anyone.”