Chinese couple pressures mum with dementia to get hand tattooed with phone numbers, gets flak for being cruel

Being the caretaker of someone with dementia can be stressful, especially when there's a chance they'll get lost while out. 

So, despite the pain, one elderly woman's hand was tattooed with her children's phone numbers in case of an emergency, reported Malaysia's media platform Rojak Lah.

The 80-year-old woman, who hails from Zhejiang, China, is currently being cared for by her son and daughter. 

A while back, she got lost while out on her own and her children had to search for her for a long time before they found her. 

Understandably, the incident scarred them and left them feeling extremely anxious. 

So, in order to prevent this from happening again, the children brought the elderly woman to a tattoo shop and had their phone numbers inked onto the back of her frail right hand.

"Please contact if lost," were the words tattooed in Chinese above the numbers of the woman's daughter, son and grandson.

The tattoo artist revealed that the elderly woman had actually been very scared of the pain and even seemed uneasy during the process. 

However, with the company of her children, she reluctantly endured it.  

The video of the elderly woman inked has since gone viral and several netizens were left feeling distressed, especially after seeing how thin and boney her hand is. 

Many said they felt like the tattoo was unnecessary and it was almost like an execution. 

Others pointed out that there wasn't a need to have so many rows of numbers inked on the woman, with some saying that the children could have used stick-on tattoos instead so the elderly woman wouldn't have had to suffer. 

ALSO READ: How to convince your loved one to seek help for dementia

melissateo@asiaone.com