Holidaymaker who paid £25 for tattoo in Turkey faced having foot amputated after it became infected

A desperate holidaymaker suffered agony and was told she may lose her foot after having a £25 bargain tattoo abroad.
Susan Fraser, 54, had a vine leaf design with hearts and stars etched onto her right foot at a tattoo studio in Marmaris, Turkey.
But just hours later her foot became infected and ballooned, leaving her struggling to walk and in agonising pain.

Susan Fraser, from Irvine, North Ayrshire, on holiday in Turkey (left) where she had a £25 bargain tattoo and her infected foot (right)

Susan was rushed to hospital by ambulance from the airport the moment she landed and doctors spent the next month trying to save her foot.
Medics at Crosshouse Hospital in Kilmarnock, Ayrshire, even debated whether to amputate Susan's foot after three different intravenous antibiotic courses failed to combat the deep-set infection.
Fortunately, a fourth antibiotic course worked and surgeons managed to save the foot without the need for a skin graft.
Supermarket worker Susan, from Irvine, North Ayrshire, said today: 'By the end of the holiday, it was the size of a balloon and oozing blood. It was horrendous.

Susan Fraser, 54, from Irvine, Scotland, who was in agony and was told she may lose her foot

'One thing I'm sure of is that I'll never get a tattoo abroad again. Too many people do it without understanding the risks.'
The tattoo trauma began on the second day of her fortnight's break in Turkey.
She spent that night with her inflamed foot under the shower, and when her foot started seeping blood and pus, Susan returned to the tattooist.

Susan Fraser had a vine leaf design with hearts and stars etched onto her right foot in a tattoo studio in the Green Nature Resort & Spa hotel in Marmaris, Turkey

Mother-of-two Susan said: 'It was sore and burning. When I went back to the tattooist, he said I must have been in salt water. I couldn't believe it - I don't even have a swim suit and I never swim.
'Then he said it must have been my sandals - which weren't even touching that part of my foot. When he started making these excuses I knew something was up.
'This guy just shunned me, telling me I'd need to change my shoes, that it wasn't his problem.'
She and partner Tom McQuillan feared the worst when they returned home last April and Susan was rushed straight to hospital by ambulance from Glasgow Airport.
Susan said: 'We had to just leave our cases behind at the airport and go straight to hospital.
'When I was told I was going to lose my foot, I was terrified and in tears at the thought of it. My dad lost his leg in an accident so I know the effect losing a limb can have.
'I prayed with all my strength that I didn't lose it. In a last ditch attempt to clear the infection, they tried a new antibiotic - my fourth - and it worked.'
Reflecting on the lasting damage, Susan said: 'It looks like scar tissue and turns really red, especially when I've been on my feet for a while.
'It looks a mess and I'm quite self-conscious about it when I'm out in public. I'd rather not wear sandals because of it, but I've got to let my toes out in the air because I have arthritis.
'But when I do wear open shoes, I see people looking at my foot and saying 'God, who did her tattoo? I can't do anything about it because you can't tattoo over scare tissue and fix it.'