Fighting cancer with tattoos - 13abc.com Toledo (OH) News, Weather and Sports

Getting inked is something people do because they like the way a tattoo looks. But Sunday Needle Masters Tattoo Studio inked people for a cause: the fight against cancer.

Linda Augustyniak lost both her mom and aunt to breast cancer about 25 years ago.

"I've actually been thinking about a tattoo for quite some time but it had to have a meaning and then when I saw the show this morning I thought, hey, this is a good reason and time to do it."

Sunday was Needle Masters Tattoo Studios Find a Cure Day. For $40, tattoo artists from the Reynolds Road and Telegraph locations were inking ribbons for cancer.

Half of the cost for each tattoo goes to the American Cancer Society. Tattoo artist Grant Gist says the other half just pays for the cost of the supplies and equipment. He says the tattoo charity day was the idea of a patron a couple months ago.

Gist says, "The permanence of it, it's always that reminder for them, it always helps them to deal and cope with whatever they had to deal with."

The design is predetermined, a ribbon; but patrons can make the choice of the color, pink for breast cancer, black for melanoma or lavender to represent all the cancers.

Cancer survivor Deborah Wilkins says, "We're getting the ribbon tattoos, myself and my family in honor of my dad, Leonard Wilkins, he passed away from esophageal cancer, but we are going to get the lavender to cover all cancers because we have multiple family members who have passed of various cancers. I'm also a cervical cancer survivor,  so it's a way to honor everybody that we love."

Needle Masters said the offer will be good until 1am Sunday night/Monday Morning.