Boy hospitalized for botched henna tattoo

STANFORD-LE-HOPE, England, July 9 (UPI) -- A British mother is warning parents not to let children get henna tattoos after her son was hospitalized and may be permanently scarred because of the body art.

Charlie Wallace, 10, was vacationing with his mother, Pauline Wallace, 36, in Marmaris, Turkey, when he got a temporary henna tattoo to show his friends, the Daily Mail reported Wednesday.

Shortly after getting the tattoo, his flesh became irritated and began to swell, the boy's mother said.

"I was absolutely petrified -- I was worried it would start to eat away at the skin or be poisonous," she added.

Since Charlie came home to Stanford-Le-Hope, England, June 20, he's been hospitalized on four occasions and missed a month of school because of injuries from the tattoo, the newspaper said.

His mother said she hopes other parents will recognize what happened to her son as a warning.

"It is the school holidays coming up and if ten mums read this and stop their children getting henna tattoos its worthwhile," she told the Daily Mail.