'Nipple tattoos gave me my confidence back'

A woman who received nipple tattoos after having a double mastectomy said it has helped her regain her confidence.

Grace Suffell, from Shropshire, was 25 when she learned she had breast cancer and had to have the surgery to remove both breasts, along with chemotherapy.

After the surgery, she discovered she could have realistic nipples drawn back on by a specially-trained tattoo artist in Telford, which was fully-funded by the Lingen Davies cancer support charity.

She said: "Going through it all knocks your confidence, but as soon as I had it done, my mum said, 'Oh, you're standing up straighter than what you were before.'"

Lauren Delarge has been a tattoo artist for around 15 years, and was responsible for Suffell's tattoos.

She is based at a studio in Telford and explained she offers "hyper-realistic areola tattoos for those who've lost them due to surgery after cancer".

They are available to both men and women, and she said it was a bespoke service with each nipple or areola created for that person, following a consultation.

Delarge said: "If they they've lost one nipple, we're matching it up to the other side. Or if they've lost both, we can recreate two nipples for them."

She first heard about nipple tattoos eight years ago, but knew she would need extra training to be able to offer the service herself.

She was partly inspired to do it because her grandmother had been through breast cancer, but also said she wanted to do something to help and "having met so many people, the impact of not having a nipple is just great".

"Being able to use my specific skill set to help people was just something I felt really passionately about," she said.

Suffell's concerns about breast cancer emerged three days after her 25th birthday.

"I just felt a lump on my right side, right breast, and it didn't feel right," she said.

After going through tests, she was offered chemotherapy and told she would need surgery.

The mastectomy was necessary she was told, because "whilst the chemo might have removed it all, there could have been like a pinprick left of the cancer in there, so it would have potentially come back".

She is now just a couple of weeks off a whole year in remission, which she said was "quite exciting".

Suffell learned about the tattoos after being handed a leaflet at the hospital in Wolverhampton, where the surgery was carried out.

It was explained it was fully funded by the Lingen Davies charity for anyone living in Shropshire, Telford and Mid Wales.

She did not have to think twice and said: "I messaged Lauren as soon as I was given the all clear from the doctors that I was able to get it.

"She replied straight away and was like, I can help you."

The first tattoos were completed last month, with a follow-up appointment due in November.

"I was excited to kind of get a bit of [myself] back," she said.

After having the tattoos done, she said she had "so much more confidence".

Delarge said while the Lingen Davies charity focused on the Shropshire and Mid Wales area, she was part of a group called the Nipple Innovation Project, which offered the service around the country.

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