A West Midlands great-gran who became the oldest woman in the UK to get a tattoo has gone under the needle again, now sporting three inkings at the age of 99. Hilda West first had the initials of her late husband Ernest and son David tattooed on her wrist in 2019, when she was 94. Since then, she has added a three-inch butterfly to her upper arm in memory of her husband and plans to get another tattoo to mark her 100th birthday next February.
Hilda, a great-grandmother of eight, went to her local tattoo parlour near the care home where she lives in Kenilworth, Warwickshire, with the help of her carers. However, she kept her third tattoo a secret from her family in case they disapproved or tried to stop her. The retired civil servant, who is also a grandmother of four, said: "After getting my first one I immediately knew I wanted a second one. I decided to get a butterfly in memory of my husband. I've always liked butterflies and I was very happy with my first tattoo, so I thought why not? It didn't hurt a bit and now I want to get another one to commemorate turning 100 - I think this time I'll get a peacock."
Hilda added: "I'd always wanted a tattoo and I thought it'd be very nice to have Ernest's initials next to our sons. We were married for 70 years and I loved him very much. I got them done because it's always been on my bucket list. But my daughter was against it so I thought I'd better wait until she was away. Her reaction was 'did they make you do this?' Well no, they didn't. It was my idea."
Hilda asked her carers at Castle Brook Care Home to arrange the tattoo, which was carried out by Ink on Skin in Coventry. She said: "I didn't feel any pain. The tattoo man, he'd never had anyone old, he said 'don't worry, I won't hurt you'. I don't really feel pain anyway, I'm lucky that way. I'm very happy with it. I thought it would look nice and it does look nice. I'm very pleased with it. This one is 3D. I'm glad I had it done. I look at them every day and think of my husband and son. It makes me feel complete, I've got something I've always wanted."
Daughter Barbara Denton, 75, of Kenilworth, said: "She kept the first one a secret from me and she also kept this one a secret too, so it was quite a surprise. She waited until I was on holiday in Spain and just went and got it done anyway. It wasn't until a few weeks later when she took off her cardigan that I noticed. I think she knew I might have tried to persuade her otherwise but she's very strong-minded so I don't think I could have stopped her anyway. It was just before Covid. I've just given up now though, if that's what she really wants to do for her 100th then I've got no problem with it if it makes her happy."
Barbara added: "I think she's probably the oldest person in the country to get tattooed - and still wanting more. There can't be too many people knocking on for a century that want a tattoo for their 100th birthday."
Care home manager Kate Bradshaw said staff were going to do a sponsored walk to raise money for Hilda's next tattoo for her 100th birthday. She 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. We've decided we'll do a sponsored walk to raise money for her next tattoo. Hilda is really wonderful, she's very sociable and developed some great relationships with other residents and staff here. She only came to us temporarily for some rehab after hospital at first but when she got home she said she wanted to come back - and she's still here six years later."
