The 56-star-girl.
BRUSSELS 14 June 2009 – A Belgian teenager is taking a tattoo artist to court[1] after she allegedly asked for 3 stars on her face, and instead received 56!
Eighteen-year-old Kimberley Vlaminck went to a local parlor called The Tattoo Box, and was tattooed by Romanian tattoo artist Rouslan Toumaniantz. Kimberley assures that she only asked for three stars to be tattooed on her face. She has stated that the tattoo artist only spoke a few words of English and French but she tried to be as clear as possible about the tattoo she wanted.
The young woman says she then fell asleep[2] during the procedure and awoke to find 56 stars across the left side of her face! She is now suing[3] him for $14,000, the cost of the laser surgery she will need to remove the tattoos.
However, the artist Mr. Toumaniantz is fighting back, saying that he gave her exactly what she wanted. “She was awake[4] and looked into the mirror several times as the procedure was taking place. The trouble all started when she went home and her father and boyfriend went mad about it.”
Her story does raise a number of questions. Why did she pay and leave the tattoo parlour without complaining? Why was it not a problem until she arrived at home?And most confusingly, who is capable of falling asleep while a very tender part of their body is being tattooed?
Mr Toumaniantz, the tattoo artist
BRUSSELS - 24Jun 2009 -Kimberley Vlaminch, the56-star tattooed, 18-year old Belgian teenager admitted that she lied[5] about being asleep during the tattoo session.Kimberleyadmitted that shewas awake all along and had lied because her father and boyfriend were “furious”.Kimberley hadinitially insisted that she fell asleep and had asked the tattoo artist for just three stars and woke up to a complete nightmare having her entire left face tattooed with 56 stars. She was said to besuingthe tattoo artist but now that the truth is out[6], there will be no lawsuit[7].
You have got to think twice or three times before getting tattooed becauseit’s not something you can remove easily.
By Dave Martins, The Telegraph, 14 and 24 June 2009
[1]To take s.o to court: Poursuivre en justice
[2]To fall asleep: S’endormir
[3] To sue: poursuivre quelqu’un en dommages et intérêts
[4] To be awake: être réveillé
[5] To lie: mentir
[6] The truth is out: la vérité est faite, les faits sont établis
[7] A lawsuit: une poursuite en justice, un procès