Teenage girl's tongue piercing leads to emergency operation

Reece-Marie Hall was taken by ambulance to hospital in Hull after a

vein apparently ruptured shortly after the 15 procedure.

The 15-year-old, of Hull, was left with blood dripping from her mouth after paying for the piercing with a silver bar at a shop in the city to celebrate her birthday.

"At first my tongue didn't bleed, but after I left the shop my tongue started pouring with blood," she said. "I kept choking."

Reece-Marie returned to the shop where staff gave her some gauze. She later called into another store, where she was earlier refused a piercing because she did not have parental consent.

Staff there told her to go straight to hospital.

Reece-Marie said: "I went home to my mum who called an ambulance. I was really scared."

The teenage girl was immediately sent for surgery.

"The doctors put me to sleep using an oxygen mask, which kept filling up with blood, and they surgically removed the bar."

Shocked mum Leeanne Hall, 35, said she nearly passed out at the sight of all the blood when she got to the hospital.

She said: "Reece-Marie now has a lisp and I can't always understand what she's saying. I hope it isn't a permanent thing."

Now the 15-year-old, who also has trouble eating, is on three types of medication. She added: "My tongue is not as swollen as it was but it has stitches in it and it's very painful."

Steve Rowe, of Classic, who did the piercing, insisted the teenager must have "interfered" with the piercing.

"She was on our premises for at least 10 minutes after she had the

tongue pierced, she paid me and she left happy," he said.

"She didn't come back for about half-an-hour, and when she did I applied minimal pressure for about one minute and the bleeding did stop.

"But she wouldn't leave it alone and kept making it worse. I think she took the bar out herself and put another bar in. She didn't like the size of it."

Mr Rowe was adamant he hadn't caused the injury. "I have been doing this for 30 years and before I puncture the tongue I check for veins and turn away two to three people a day because their veins are in the way.

"It's a mystery, because she stayed on the premises for 10 minutes after with no ill-effects."

Hull Council's Environmental Health department has been informed.

Tattooing and piercing parlours are covered by an Act which requires people and premises offering tattooing and piercing to be registered with the local authority.

However, unlike tattoos, legal guidelines do not impose a minimum age for piercings.

Hull Council recommends that operators don't pierce people under 16 without consent from a parent or carer.

Reece-Marie's mother said: "I didn't think she would be able to get it done because she's under 16, but I understand she told the guy in Classic she was 16 years old and he believed her."

East Hull solicitor Neil Hudgell said he had been instructed by the family and they are considering a legal claim against Classic.

A study published by the British Medical Journal, warned that the increasing popularity of piercing, "could place a significant burden on health services for many years."

Tongue piercings were the most risky, with half resulting in

complications and a quarter requiring professional help.