“I look at the tattoos and think of my husband and son – it makes me feel complete”
A great-grandmother of eight who became the oldest person in the UK to get a tattoo is getting a fourth for her 100th birthday.
Hilda West, from Kenilworth in Warwickshire, now sports several inkings after going under the needle for the first time in 2019 aged 94, SWNS reported.
She originally got the initials of her late husband Ernest and son David on her wrist, before adding a butterfly to her upper arm last year. She has now marked her 100th milestone with a four inch peacock, which the tattoo studio did free of charge.
A retired civil servant, Hilda joked the fourth tattoo will probably be her last because “she’s running out of room” to put them.
She added this would probably come as welcome news to her daughter Barbara who had previously disapproved of them.
Hilda had always kept her tattoos a secret from her family in case they tried to stop her – and enlisted the help of carers to do so.
But on the occasion of her birthday Hilda was accompanied by her daughter to the tattoo studio, Ink on Skinz, after admitting she’d “given up” trying to deter her.
Hilda, who turned 100 on February 6, said: “I’m very happy with it. It didn’t hurt me one bit, the tattoo artist was very gentle – I think I must be getting used to them now.”
“I wish I had started when I was younger, but I might be covered in them by now if I had. My daughter wasn’t happy at first but she’s given up. I think my husband would have been happier than she has been about them.”
Hilda said she thought the secret to a long life was “working hard and having a strong mind”.
“I’ve always wanted a tattoo and I’m proof its never too late. I got them done because it’s always been on my bucket list.
“I thought it’d be very nice to have Ernest’s initials next to our sons. I look at them and think of my husband and son. It makes me feel complete.”
“After getting my first one I immediately knew I wanted a second one. Butterflies and peacocks are my two favourite animals.
Hilda, who is also a grandmother-of-four, was born in Manchester on February 6, 1925 and has lived in Warwickshire for 65 years.
She was an air raid warden during WWII, worked in the war office as a civil servant and was a former Butlins beauty queen in 1947.
Daughter Barbara Denton, 75, of Kenilworth, added: “She’s definitely a one-off that’s for sure.
“She seems very happy with her new tattoo and she was adamant she wanted one for her 100th birthday.
“She’s getting a bit more adventurous in her later years. She did absolutely fantastic and we got it done in one sitting.
“I can’t say I approved of them at first but she’s a very strong-willed woman and I knew she would just do it anyway. But if that what makes her happy, who am I to argue with her.”
Matty Gardner, who has run Ink on Skinz for ten years, said: “The tattoo didn’t bother her at all, she sat fine and did brilliantly.
“She handled it better than some of the bigger guys you come across. She didn’t even flinch.
“She’s the oldest person I’ve tattooed easily and she’s amazing. I’m writing a book about the studio and she is definitely going to be in it.
“I did it for free because it’s no trouble to me taking a couple of hours out of my day. I just thought it would be a nice thing to do.”
Castle Brook Care Home manager Kate Bradshaw said: “Our lifestyle coach came in one day and Hilda noticed they had some tattoos and was asking him about it.
“Then she waited until her daughter was on holiday and went with our lifestyle coach on a day trip to Coventry to get the butterfly done.
“Hilda is really wonderful, she’s very sociable and developed some great relationships with other residents and staff here.”