Tattoo artist takes to TEDx to talk nipples, breast cancer and making a difference

An entrepreneurial mum from Cullingworth, Bradford is excited to announce she will be standing on the famous red dot later this month after being asked to deliver a talk for TEDxNHS - to share the work she does with cancer survivors, and how tattooing them has been a lifeline for so many.

Bringing change to the NHS through the power of storytelling, TEDxNHS aims to inspire us to think differently, dream bigger, and design better for the population the NHS serves. In front of a live crowd of around 400 at The Royal Institution, London and an online audience of millions, live streamed via TEDxNHS.com, on 28 September 2024, Lucy Thompson, will be discussing nipples tattoos post mastectomy, and how she offers an alternative option to the NHS through her charity The Nipple Innovation Project - the UK’s first mastectomy tattoo charity est 2018.

Lucy and The Nipple Innovation Project has partnered with the Bradford Teaching Hospitals as the first charity to partner with the NHS to offer the service of nipple tattoos post surgery.

Focused around the premise that ‘Ideas Change Everything’ TEDx is used worldwide to share big ideas and create impactful and thought provoking conversations. Lucy is delighted to be able to access such a platform As the first tattoo artist to take part in a TEDxNHS talk to help make what can be thought of as a taboo subject more mainstream - empowering cancer survivors with Free 3D Nipple tattoos.

She said: “The work we do is still so unknown, but the work we do can really be life changing. I’m so honoured to have 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. Nipple tattoos are offered on the NHS for people who want them, but they are basic, semi permanent and they quickly fade away, negatively impacting a person's self esteem. Our solution is here to stay and the result is much more realistic looking, as we are using our specific skills as tattoo artists. We also offer our services in a beautiful private studio in a rural setting, out in the countryside, so there are no hospitals and the experience is one that encourages reflection, escapism and serenity, helping survivors to find their confidence again, and to help them love their bodies again after they have been through something so life changing.”

Lucy, 34, a mum of 1, who originally travelled to America in San Antonio, Texas, to become qualified in this art said: “Me standing on this stage is a culmination of so many years of hard work. Thousands & thousands of hours of volunteer work, and advocating for many years has got me to this point and enabled us to change so much for so many people already. I can’t wait to see where this next stage takes us and what it means for people in the breast cancer community”

Standing on the TEDx red dot also means a lot to Lucy personally, who has overcome her own mental health challenges over the years suffering from depression and a lack of self worth.

“Getting into tattooing has helped me with my mental health - given me a meaning and purpose and I want to take this further now and give something back. I have battled depression since the age of 15 and tattoos have helped me feel more like me. I know how different you can feel, thanks to a tattoo -and now to have a charity dedicated to using them for good is just the best feeling. My depression was related to not feeling worthy - and things have changed now I’ve found focus on how to help others - it’s not about me anymore. I’ve found my place in the world and I’m excited to stand on that red dot and share my mission. If you’d have told me 5 years ago I’d be doing this I’d have said you were crazy but my passion has driven me and my confidence is the best it’s ever been, so I know I can stand on that stage and deliver. I’m in the best place that I have been in my whole life and it’s really exciting”, said Lucy.

Lucy, who has won multiple awards for her work added: “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.”

Lucy has been a tattoo artist since 2013, and established this service to create realistic areolas for women who have undergone breast cancer surgery after her Auntie went through a mastectomy, a breast re-construction, a nipple graft and a tattoo in hospital. 10 years after her diagnosis she was happy in recovering but found the nipple had faded and she needed to return for further treatment, something which unnerved her having to resist the hospital, and the fact her body ‘didn’t look right’ affected her self esteem.

“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,” says Lucy. “After the trauma of going through cancer, I want to make the restorative period as stress free as possible and help women feel whole again, drawing a line under the arduous journey they have been through. Why should they have to return for future treatment when it can be done in one process.”

She felt passionately there needed to be another way - so she created it.

Lucy founded The Nipple Innovation Project, (NiP) after doing private work for years. After a BBC article about her work went viral she became inducted with requests from women from all over the country with faded hospital tattoos and wanted her help. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/health-43339217

She said: “Work was, and still is being done by practitioners who are given minimal training, and they are unintentionally causing further damage. I wanted to make my service accessible to anyone affected by breast cancer without cost being a factor and I wanted to build a directory of artists throughout the UK to make it more accessible to more people, so the charity was born. This has been a huge labour of love, and so much harder than I anticipated, but we are making inroads to this becoming more mainstream, and it is all worth it”.

To attend the TEDxNHS talk, which is to be held in London at The Royal Institution on 28 September 2024 you can book tickets at www.tedxnhs.com or you can watch the live stream via the website.