A woman's heartbreaking story has led to her being given the opportunity to get her face tattoo removed.
Taylor White, a Florida resident, was just 21 years old when her face was allegedly forcibly tattooed with obscenities, forcing her to cover them up with a blackout face tattoo.
As reported by the New York Post, White's tattoo journey began when she was a young woman, with thin lines inked on either side of her face connecting her eyes to her temples.
She described it as "war paint" she applied to herself during a period of "mania" while working at a tattoo shop, attempting to prove her artistic prowess.
During this tumultuous period, White married a U.S. military member who later divorced her for a woman he met in Iraq, leaving White homeless and dependent on the goodwill of a tattoo parlor for shelter.
Her next boyfriend, whom she initially thought was a "great guy," was allegedly "abusive," both physically and sexually.
White says her then-boyfriend took her and a group of friends to a local bar on her 21st birthday and got her drunk.
She has chosen to keep the details of what allegedly took place that night private, but she says she had been assaulted.
Her face was in excruciating pain, and when she looked in the mirror, she discovered "really horrible things" permanently etched onto her face.
Upon returning to the tattoo shop where she worked, her boss, taken aback by the grotesque tattoos, offered to "black it out" to help her lead a normal life. White accepted his offer in 2008, but her life continued to be anything but normal as she faced constant job rejections due to her appearance.
"I’ve tried applying for jobs in the mental health care field just as an advocate," White, who has bipolar 2 disorder, revealed to the Post. "I understand that my appearance is quite different, and could maybe jar someone that has their own condition."
White began sharing her life journey on TikTok, amassing 22,000 followers while aiming to destigmatize mental illness.
"I wish when I was younger, someone had told me it’s OK to not be OK, and if you need help, ask for it," White shared. She recently completed her bachelor’s degree and is working toward a doctorate in psychology.
Karridy Askenasy, known as TheDadBot on TikTok, came across one of White's TikTok livestreams and, moved by her story, reached out to offer financial support for her laser tattoo removal.
"The trouble she was facing obviously had a personal effect on her," Askenasy, who has more than 138,000 TikTok followers, explained. "It was preventing her from doing the most good possible."
From Texas, Askenasy tirelessly searched for a clinic willing to take on the challenge of removing White's complex face tattoos, unsure if anyone could succeed or if he could afford the expensive procedure. Finally, Removery, a laser tattoo-removal company, stepped in and agreed to undertake the task free of charge.
Laser tattoo removal is typically an expensive and time-consuming process that can take months or even years to complete. Given the dark ink on White's face, Carmen VanderHeiden Brodie, the vice president of clinical operations at Removery, estimates it could take "upwards of two years" for her ink to fully disappear.
"It’s a gradual process, but one that yields permanent, life-changing results," Brodie explained in a statement to The Post.
For White, the removal process represents a chance to leave behind the painful reminders of her past. During her first removal session last month, she couldn't help but smile, despite the discomfort of the laser.
"I’m not having it removed purely for cosmetic reasons," White emphasized. "This is really removing a part of me that I no longer represent or live in."