When Sabrina Devlin first noticed a lump in her breast, she assumed it was a cyst and went on with her life, raising four children.
However, that all changed six months later in the winter of 2012 when Sabrina was watching a Stand Up To Cancer program on TV at her home in Northern Ireland. That's when Sabrina decided to get her mysterious lump checked out.
Within two hours of arriving at the breast cancer clinic, doctors confirmed that Sabrina did in fact have breast cancer. She told Killer Ink, "When you hear those words, you have breast cancer, it's like an out of body experience for a few moments because it's all movement and no sound, you see someone talking to you but you are numb."
From that moment on, Sabrina's life became drastically different and her treatment began immediately.
Sabrina underwent mastectomy surgery to remove the tumor, and then had six months of chemotherapy followed by a four-week course of radio therapy. This all involved an approximately two-hour round trip journey from her home to the treatment center in Belfast everyday.
After her treatments were completed, Sabrina chose to undergo reconstruction surgery. Sabrina said she "wanted a breast shape again because I was so young and I wanted to feel feminine."
Despite a number of procedures to get her breasts back to normal, including surgical tattooing and nipple reconstruction, Sabrina was not satisfied with how her breast was healing.
Sabrina became involved with a Here I Am support group, which unites cancer survivors in Northern Ireland. She bravely decided to participate in a campaign where she showed her scars and talked about her journey.
During the photo shoot, Sabrina was asked about whether she'd be interested in another campaign that would involve her getting a breast tattoo.
Sabrina even said, "It was something I had always thought about."
She even had a tattoo artist in mind for the very special ink job. She said, "I told them from the moment I agreed that I wanted Willy G, I have been following his work for ages and I knew he could do what I wanted."
After the tattoo was completed, the tattoo artist said, "The end result, seeing her reaction, crying with happiness is the best reward an artist could ask for. It was a pleasure to be part of this strong woman's journey and to finally make her happy!"
The tattoo was an important component of Sabrina's healing process and she hopes to raise awareness about breast cancer among young women through sharing her photos and her journey.
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