A mum has warned others to stay away from tanning injections this summer after she suffered multiple seizures from the DIY beauty treatment.
Danielle Trevarthen, 26, from Cornwall, was also left with a gaping hole in her bum after the chemicals in controversial cosmetic treatment tore through her skin and created a flesh-eating infection.
She got her then-boyfriend to inject her after being gifted the needle from an acquaintance, in a bid to get an all-round sun-kissed glow.
Tanning injections darken skin by replicating a hormone which stimulates production of melanin in the skin. They are illegal in the UK.
But a week after getting the injection, a five-inch abscess appeared on her left bum cheek.
Danielle went to the doctors after she noticed her breathing wasn’t right, and was prescribed a course of antibiotics and painkillers.
But despite visiting the doctor every day for the next week to get her prescription, the abscess failed to go away.
It was then that Danielle suffered the first of five seizures in her local GP practice, which saw her rushed to hospital.
She spent the next three weeks in hospital on a ventilator and ended up losing a stone in weight from the ordeal.
Now five years after the incident – and still with a scar on her left bum cheek – Danielle steers clear of the sun-kissed look and religiously uses sun cream.
“I can’t stress enough how dangerous buying things online are, especially when they don’t come with instructions,” ambulance dispatch worker Danielle told NeedToKnow.
“I was so scared and petrified at the time. I’m just glad I’m healed and better now.
“I remember I felt sick almost immediately after using it but I thought it was probably normal.
“A few days went by and I couldn’t sit on my left buttock. It was painful, red and just looked angry.
“I kept an eye on it and after about a week it turned into an abscess. I was going to the doctors but nothing was killing it. The infection was living off of my skin and getting bigger and deeper.
“It was a week after going to the doctors that I had the first seizure.
“I went in as usual feeling sick with a high temperature, and as I left I went to the toilet to be sick but I collapsed and had a seizure on the doctors floor.
“I had another three seizures before the ambulance arrived. I was petrified.
“After I was rushed to hospital, I had tubes shoved down my throat as my airways had tightened and I wasn’t physically able to breathe by myself.
“My body took an absolute battering from it all.”
Danielle discharged herself after three weeks before resting up at home and has since made a full recovery – with the scar serving as a reminder of the close call.
With summer round the corner, Danielle wants to warn others from using the injections as a quick way to get a tan.
Danielle added: “I still have a long scar left on my bum and this is five years on.
“My family was annoyed I did it, but I’m just glad I’m OK now.
“I still have flashbacks about how one tanning injection can cause so many issues.
“Now if I want a tan, it’s a fake tan lotion or a tonne of sun lotion for a natural tan.
“I just cannot stress enough how dangerous they are and for others to avoid them.”
