Meet the Yorkshire woman changing the lives of breast cancer patients with post-mastectomy nipple tattoos

Lucy, of Cullingworth on the outskirts of Bradford, gave a TEDxNHS talk at The Royal Institution, London, taking to the famous red dot to highlight the work of her charity The Nipple Innovation Project, established in 2018. The organisation helps breast cancer survivors to restore their nipples without the worry of cost, with its team of specially-trained artists across the country providing realistic, long-lasting tattoos.

“The work we do is still so unknown, but the work we do can really be life changing,” the 35-year-old says. “I’m so honoured to have had this opportunity to be able to reach so many more people, and share with them our transformative work. When people are coming out the other side of cancer there is still so much trauma to overcome and after a mastectomy there is so much both emotional and physical healing.”

Lucy says basic semi-permanent nipple tattoos can fade away, negatively impacting self esteem.

"People go away thinking this is it, this is the end of the journey but then the tattoo fades away and they’re at square one - they’ve lost their nipples again. These people say to me they are always grateful to be alive, they don’t want to cause a fuss. But we say they should be thriving, feeling confident, feeling sexy, feeling like their body is their own not that it’s an alien body…You should be able to move on in a positive way instead of having a constant reminder of what cancer has taken away.”

Lucy has been working as a tattoo artist for 11 years. “From early on in my career I was fascinated by scars. Initially it was because my mentor told me never to tattoo them and I’m a bit of a rebel. I don’t like being told what to do. Hearing people’s stories of why they wanted scars to be covered up, I really wanted to help them do so, to help them move forward past the trauma, wherever the scar had come from.”

She started offering one free scar cover up a month at her studio and out of the blue was approached to do a nipple tattoo. “The lady explained she’d had a hospital tattoo, it had faded away and now she couldn’t look at it,” Lucy says. She spoke to her aunt, who had been through a mastectomy and her story was similar. “I asked her what it would mean to her to have this looking more realistic and she said it would help her feel whole again.”

And so Lucy travelled to Texas to become qualified in the art of nipple tattooing. Then, her charity was born and Lucy is now working with people from the tattoo community who want to use their skills to help others. “It’s so humbling. It’s an honour to be trusted and to be leading the way in advocacy and raising awareness,” she reflects. “The reaction I get every time I tattoo someone is what spurs me on...Everyone should have access to a 3D, realistic and long-lasting option. Everyone.”

Standing on the TEDx red dot meant a lot to Lucy personally, who has overcome her own mental health challenges over the years suffering from depression, body dysmorphia and a lack of self worth. “My depression was related to not feeling worthy - and things have changed now I’ve found focus on how to help others," she says.

“This is such an important topic, but one that carries stigma and embarrassment and having the chance to raise awareness of how these tattoos help change lives potentially means we can normalise discussions around nipples more so that more people in the breast cancer community can get better access to this restorative service to feel whole again after losing so much to cancer.”

Earlier this year, the Nipple Innovation Project began a partnership with Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust to offer the service of nipple tattoos post-surgery. The goal is now to connect with all NHS trusts across the country. “It’s not going to be quick,” Lucy admits, “but I won’t stop until we do that”.

For more on her work, visit www.nipcharity.org