Melissa Sloan (45 years old, UK) owns a full cover from head to toe. But behind each ink stain is a story full of tears.
The mother-of-one said that she was abused by her half-brother Gavin Sloan (46 years old) since the age of 6 and it took many years to tell the truth.
“I have suffered all my life from abuse since I was a child. My whole body is covered in tattoos and that’s how I deal with childhood trauma. I tried to erase painful memories and gradually became ‘addicted’ to tattooing” – Melissa Sloan shared.
Melissa Sloan started tattooing at the age of 20 and now has ink stains all over her body. She says the tattoos help her cover up her “scars of the past”.
Melissa describes “tattoo addiction” as alcoholism and sometimes she just can’t control it. Every week, she gets one or two new tattoos and plans to tattoo until there are no more places to continue to apply ink.
It is known that the tattoos on Melissa’s body were tattooed by her boyfriend, although it is a passion, but these tattoos cause her a lot of trouble.
Possessing a full-body tattoo even on her face, this helps her feel healed from past hurts, but inadvertently makes Melissa suffer from scrutiny every time she goes out. Even she couldn’t find a job for many years.
“I applied for a job cleaning toilets but they said they couldn’t accept it because I have too many tattoos. The first job I did was cleaning years ago, but it didn’t last long,” said Melissa.
Melissa now has a 7-year-old son and is just hoping to find a job that is enough to support them. “I want to fit in but still be myself with tattoos like this. People don’t need to sympathize, but I don’t want to run away to another place,” Melissa shared.
n May, his “depersonalized” brother Gavin Sloan was sentenced to 21 years after pleading guilty to CH and assaulting TD on dozens of other children.
“I’m pleased he’s finally behind bars, but I also feel angry that my own complaint wasn’t properly investigated at the time,” Melissa said .
