Great-grandmother ‘becomes Britain’s oldest woman to get a tattoo’ by having her first ink aged 94
A great-grandmother has got her first tattoo at the age of 94.
Hilda West, from Kenilworth, Warwickshire, is believed to be the oldest woman in Britain to get a tattoo.
She had tattoos done on her wrist of the initials of her late husband, Ernest, and her late son, David.
Mrs West said she wanted to pay tribute to her husband on his birthday, which would have been this month.
Ernest passed away five years ago after the couple had been married for 70 years.
Mrs West went under the needle at Ink on Skinz, a tattoo parlour near the care home where she lives.
“I’ve always wanted a tattoo and I thought it’d be very nice to have Ernest’s initials next to our son’s,” she said.
“Ernest’s birthday would have been this month and I wanted to do something special to mark the occasion.
“We were married for 70 years and I loved him very much.”
She asked staff at Castle Brook Care Home to arrange the tattoos, which were done by tattooist Matty Gardner, who did it for free.
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She said: “It went very smoothly. I didn't feel any pain. He was very good. I'm very happy with it. I'm glad I had it done.
“I believe I’m probably the oldest person in the country to have a tattoo and I’m very proud of them.
“I look at them every day and think of my husband and son. I’m not going to stop with the initials. I want a butterfly or peacock done next.”
Mr Gardner said: “It's nice to do something nice for somebody.
“I've tattooed people who are quite old, but not that old. It was very out of the ordinary.
“It was all over in 20 minutes. She handled it better than some of the body builders I've tattooed.”
