SMOOCH MIGHT BE FATAL FOR LOVED-UP PAIR ‘Allergy means my girlfriend’s hair dye could kill me’
A LUSTY lad nearly died when he reacted to his girlfriend’s hair dye during a romantic clinch.
Factory worker Neil Leigh, 29, has a severe allergy to the chemicals in some beauty products.
He stopped using dye after his face once swelled to twice its normal size for 10 days.
But he had no idea he could still be affected by the colour in other people’s hair – until he was in bed with his girlfriend Sharla Mazari one night.
Neil said he started to “tingle” after running his hands through her hair. It quickly became apparent he wasn’t tingling with lust – the dye had triggered another reaction.
Neil immediately recognised the signs as his face and fingers began to swell. He luckily managed to avoid a bad reaction by sleeping on the sofa.
Now the couple, from Buxton, Derbys, have to plan ahead when Sharla colours her hair and they stay apart for 24 hours.
Neil said: “I was shocked when I first realised even touching Sharla’s hair after it had been dyed could trigger the reaction.
“I sleep in a different bed the first night and avoid running my fingers through her hair until a good few days after.
“I just can’t take the risk of touching her hair in the hours after it’s been dyed, so we have to stay apart.
“The last time had a reaction to I KELLY STRANGE hair dye it was so bad I feared it would kill me. There’s no way I was going to risk that again.
“But I didn’t want Sharla to change her appearance because of me, so I just offered to stay away on the night she dyed it.”
Neil first began experimenting with hair colour in his twenties with no issue.
But six years ago he attempted to turn his strawberry blonde hair black.
He said: “The next morning it was like my scalp was on fire.”
Neil was advised to rub mayonnaise into his hair to cool the burning.
But the next day he woke to find the swelling was even worse. His eyes were shut and he was taken to hospital and treated for anaphylactic shock.
He said: “I was in such a state they immediately started me on strong steroids.”
It took 10 days for his face to go back to normal and he was told to avoid hair dye.
But after meeting care worker Sharla he noticed his fingers would turn red and begin to itch after he touched her hair.
He said: “I twigged it must be her hair dye as it only happened in the days after she dyed it.”
He resorted to sleeping on the sofa in their one-bedroom flat just to be sure. He said: “It just wasn’t worth taking the
risk.”