Woman expresses regret over penis tattoo on her shoulder

Holly Aston, of Druids Heath, Birmingham, who awoke after a drunken party to discover a tattoo of a penis on her shoulder says it has ruined her life. She was just 17 when she allowed drunken friends to draw a penis on her shoulder with a DIY tattoo gun she’d bought on the internet. Holly woke up next day horrified by the graphic image permanently inked on her body. Holly, a self-confessed former ‘wild child’ says she has now grown up and wants to move on with her life.

“It was so easy to buy a tattoo gun off the internet for about £50. You get the full kit of needles and ink and it’s easy to operate, though they give you no instructions about keeping it sterile. We were very lucky not to get an infection or blood poisoning. I had tattoo parties with my mates. We’d have some drinks and tattoo each other – it was stupid.” It was during one of those parties that things got out of hand. “I let my mates draw whatever they wanted,” says Holly.



“I have the word ‘Dyke’ on my ankle, and then one drew the penis on my shoulder. I knew what they were doing and didn’t mind at the time. It was just a joke and I thought it was funny. But then I woke up the next day, looked at it and thought ‘Oh God, what have I done?’. I had to keep it covered up in the summer; if I went swimming I tried to cover it with plasters because I didn’t want children seeing it. I turned down family holidays because I was hiding it from my mum and dad. I thought they’d kill me.

“I want to go to university this year and to be taken seriously without this silly tattoo, but I can’t afford the thousands of pounds it would cost to remove it.” Holly has a diploma in animal management and wants to study animal behaviour and welfare, with the aim of working with endangered species. Meanwhile, she works part-time in Poundland. The tattoo, however, is soon to be removed thanks to a TV show which has paid for laser removal sessions.