‘I gave her the best present – a new pair of nipples!’: Mum shares heartwarming story of helping her best friend through breast cancer
Rachel Kennedy was determined to help pal Andria Harris when she got the devastating diagnosis and trained as a tattoo artist
A MUM-OF-FOUR has given her cancer-stricken best friend the ultimate gift - a brand new pair of nipples.
Rachel Kennedy, a hairdresser from South Wales, was determined to help pal Andria Harris when she was told the devastating news she had breast cancer in early 2013.
Rachel, 34, says: "It was heartbreaking when Andria told me. She found a lump in her breast on Christmas day of all days.
“We have been best friends for 14 years. She is a mum just like me and it was so scary for her."
Andria, now 53, was told by doctors she was suffering from a very aggressive stage three hormonal cancer and had to undergo several rounds of gruelling chemotherapy.
Speaking about the moment she received her diagnosis, the mum-of-two and foster carer recalls: “Devastation is an under-statement.”
When she started losing her hair it was Rachel who cut and styled a wig for her.
Rachel said: "Being a hairdresser it was no problem me styling a nice wig to suit her.
“But then her eyebrows and eyelashes fell out too.”
Andria went through several lumpectomies – a process similar to a partial mastectomy as part of the breast tissue is removed – to get rid of the cancer.
Devastated, Andria called on her friend for support.
Rachel recalled: "Andria felt robbed of her identity. Most of us take our breasts for granted until we are faced with losing them.
"She was very self-conscious of her body and wouldn't get undressed. It was horrible seeing my bubbly, happy friend withdraw from life.
“Watching someone you love go through a life-threatening illness can leave you feeling helpless. All that really matters is surviving, but it doesn’t stop a woman wanting to hold on to her femininity."
Seeing her mate so down, Rachel decided to train to become a cosmetic and paramedical tattooist to help Andria and ease the emotional pain of her experience with breast cancer.
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She spent £12,000 on classes and equipment and learned how to do the perfect tattooed eyebrow, which she inked on her friend along with lash lines.
When Andria underwent surgery at University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff, South Wales, and lost part of her nipple, Rachel didn't miss a beat.
She explains: "I told her it wasn't a problem and I could give her a new nipple.”
It took over three hours to tattoo Andria's left nipple so that it perfectly matched her skin tone.
Rachel used a topical anaesthetic cream to ensure it was a painless procedure for her pal.
She says: "It's takes a lot of skill to tattoo a nipple, because women can be left with scar tissue or their skin can become very thin after treatment for cancer.
"It's very emotional too when they see the finished result. It's not just a physical thing."
Rachel says that helping Andria and seeing how it gave her the confidence to face the world again has made her determined to help others.
She admits: "It has made me appreciate what I have so much.
"We are such close friends and I feel privileged to have done this for her. When people ask me what is the best present you've ever given - I say a pair of nipples!"
Thankfully, Andria is now in remission and she has six monthly check-ups.
She says: “Rachel was my saviour. She researched what I could do to look as normal as possible.
“She found that semi-permanent make up was a way to help. Being such a caring person, Rachel decided to go on a course and get trained how to perform these procedures.
“Words cannot say what a difference this made to me.”
Rachel adds: "Now it is my mission to help other women going through the same. It's a wonderful feeling helping to make someone feel beautiful again after their lives have been turned upside down from cancer."