Woman Covers Burn Scars With Tattoos, Starts Business to Help Others Do the Same

[Editor’s Note: Trigger warning for this video which features post-assault images and descriptions.]

Basma Hameed provides something called para-medical tattoos, a technique she first tried on herself, to help those with certain skin conditions. Seen in the video is Hameed’s work on Samira Omar (and another patient further along), a victim of what the CBC News refers to as a bullying attack. Without going into detail, she was left with many burn scars. Hameed is starting work to restore her skin color through tattoos but the technique has many other uses as well according the CBC:

Patients from around the world seek out Hameed’s skills. She started her Toronto clinic in 2011 and recently opened a second location in Chicago. In addition to scar victims, she also treats people with vitiligo — a skin disease that causes loss of pigment — and breast cancer survivors who need redrawing of their nipples or eyebrows that disappeared during chemotherapy.

After being told by a plastic surgeon that she shouldn’t waste money trying to fix her own burn scars, Hameed took matters into her own hands. Literally. “I think that I’m good at para-medical scar camouflage because I was able to work on myself, and I was able to see the process of it,” she said. She also started the Basma Hameed Survivors Foundation to help other burn and scar survivors.

(via Huffington Post)

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