[Trending] No One Would Help This Teen With Self-Harm Scars, But Then This Tattoo Artist Saw Her And Just Couldn’t Say No

Ink has allowed an Irish teen to recover from self-harm. Aoife Lovett (19) had been struggling with mental health throughout the years, and even though she got better, the scars brought back memories she wanted to forget. Aoife wanted to cover up them with tattoos, but all artists she reached out to refused to work with scarred skin. Except one.

Aoife’s mom came across Ryan Kelly’s project Scars Behind Beauty, an initiative that helps people leave self-harm-behind. “It’s very hard when you’re a couple of years clean from doing it and every day you’re constantly reminded of what you did,” Aoife told the Independent. “It brings back memories of how you felt then. There’s a lot of shame that comes with it and guilt, especially when you’re around your family.”

Ryan launched his project in February when another woman contacted him for the same reason Aoife did. “A girl just randomly came in looking for a tattoo to cover up some scars and I got talking to her and she started telling me her story,” Ryan said. “At the end of that it didn’t really feel right to charge her. It kind of felt like it meant more to her than that.”

“It’s putting something beautiful over something ugly,” Aoife praised Ryan’s work. “It gives you a new sense of freedom and you get your confidence back because it’s very hard to go into jobs and wear t-shirts with scars because you get looks and you get questions a lot about it.”

Ryan wasn’t quick to judge other tattoo artists. “Understandably to a certain degree because obviously if you want your best piece it’s going to be better on flat skin. It can take a little bit more time sometimes, but for me it means a lot more than that because you’re helping someone move on from a difficult time.”

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Ink has allowed 19-year-old Aoife Lovett to recover from self-harm

Aoife had been struggling with mental health throughout the years, and even though she got better, the scars brought back memories she wanted to forget

“It’s very hard when you’re a couple of years clean from doing it and every day you’re constantly reminded of what you did”

“It brings back memories of how you felt then. There’s a lot of shame that comes with it and guilt, especially when you’re around your family”

Aoife wanted to cover up them with tattoos, but all artists she reached out to refused to work with scarred skin. Except one

Aoife’s mom came across Ryan Kelly’s project Scars Behind Beauty, an initiative that helps people leave self-harm-behind

She said Ryan has put something beautiful over something ugly: “It gives you a new sense of freedom and you get your confidence back”

Ryan launched his project in February when another woman contacted him for the same reason Aoife did

“A girl just randomly came in looking for a tattoo to cover up some scars and I got talking to her and she started telling me her story”

“At the end of that it didn’t really feel right to charge her. It kind of felt like it meant more to her than that”

Ryan is not the only one dedicated to this great task

Image credits: Poppy 

Poppy Seger is a tattoo artist from the UK who has helped many people already

Image credits: Poppy 

And Whitney Develle has done similar work in Australia

Image credits: Whitney Develle

People were reacting strongly to these artists’ great work

Source: BoredPanda