A mum said she was "going blind" and looked like she'd done "five rounds with Mike Tyson " after getting tattoos on her eyeballs. Anaya Peterson, 32, was inspired to get the risky body modification procedure by alternative model Amber Luke, but she soon regretted her decision.
When Amber had the procedure she was left with temporary vision issues, but this didn't put Anaya off, as the Daily Star reports. Initially, she planned to only get one eye done, but then changed her mind and went for both - but then they both swelled up leaving her a little worse for wear.
Anaya said: "I was just going to get one [eye tattoo] at first, because I thought that if I go blind, at least I've got the other eye. I should have stuck with that.
"My daughter told me that I didn't want to do that [the tattoo] asking, 'What if you go blind?' She wasn't on board with it at all."
Anaya, from Belfast in Northern Ireland, didn't notice any major complications initially, but after going under the needle to ink her right-eye blue in July 2020, she suffered some dryness and headaches.
As the symptoms were mild for months, she decided to go ahead and ink her left-eye purple that December.
But in August 2021, her eyes swelled up so much it looked like she'd had "five rounds with Mike Tyson".
Anaya wished she listened to her seven-year-old child instead of taking the risk.
She claims she was hospitalised after getting her eyes tattooed – and is now at risk of developing cataracts.
The law student said: "I just wanted to be at home watching [TV] to be honest. I can't even put it into words. It wasn't nice at all whatsoever.
"It was traumatizing to go through. I just remember thinking, 'I'm not doing that s*** again, with the eye tattoo. I'm definitely not doing that s*** again'."
Even though Anaya is recovering after hospital treatment, she regrets modifying her body as her sight has been impaired.
She said: "I don't have 20/20 vision anymore. From a distance, I can't see features on faces.
"If I didn't have my eyeballs tattooed, I wouldn't be having this problem. Even today I woke up with more floaters in my eyes. And that is dangerous...
"I'm kind of recovered - on the outside, it's recovered. It's just inside. I'm basically on the verge of going blind."
If she could turn back the clock, Anaya admitted she'd only get one eye inked.
She added: "If I could go back in time, I would have done one black [eye tattoo] and left it. I would have done one black. Absolutely."
The mum is trying to stay positive through any backlash she's received for inking her eyeballs.
She's using the experience as a life lesson to pass on to her kids.
Anaya added: "I tell my daughter not to care about the opinions of someone else because they're just ordinary people like you.
"You have positive comments and negative comments, but the negative comments always overshadow the positive ones."
Do you have a story to sell? Get in touch with us at yourmirror@mirror.co.uk
