Piercing misery sparks warning

REACTION: the lump on Remmie’s ear

A carnival queen has been devastated by a fashion look that went wrong.

Remmie Pearson (17) pestered her mum Vicky into letting her have a “scaffold” piercing - two piercings across the top of ear, connected by a rod.

But a severe reaction has left the Failsworth carnival queen depressed - and reluctant to leave the house.

Six months after the piercing, scar tissue began to form at the edge of her ear. A year later the lump is now the size of a fivepenny piece.

The local NHS has refused to remove the growth because it’s a “cosmetic” procedure, and it can’t justify the cost.

Provate removal would cost around £1,250, which single-mum Vicky can’t afford.

Remmie, who is studying to be an air hostess at Oldham College, says the growth is having a horrible effect on her life.

“I know it might not seem much, but people keep staring at me and laughing about it and it makes me so embarrassed and ashamed,” she said.

Vicky slammed the NHS for disregarding her daughter’s plight.

“As a carnival queen Remmie does lots of fund raising and charity work but because she needs to be in public a lot. She’s only a 17-year-old girl so she gets distressed when people snigger. But it’s not just that: she catches it a lot, it bleeds and is very painful.

“Our GP thinks it should be removed on the NHS and I imagine it’s only a simple procedure so can’t understand why they’ve turned us down.”

A spokesman for Oldham Clinical Commissioning Group said: “As part of our role as a clinical commissioning group, it’s our job to demonstrate we are making the most effective use of public money we can.

“If during a review process the panel finds that there are no exceptional clinical circumstances, the CCG is therefore unable to provide funding.”