SAN ANTONIO — Rooster Robinson is giving breast cancer survivors an inspired gift for the holiday. For those receiving his donation, it means more than most can comprehend.
"I get to hear all of these stories," Robinson said. "I have a lot of respect for the people I get to work on."
Robinson creates realistic tattoos at Inception tattoos at 12244 Nacogdoches Rd. It's also where he's offering free areola pigmentation for breast cancer survivors, accident victims and abuse victims..
"I see a lot that are done in surgeons' offices and they walk out with a dot," Robinson said.
Recipients get a consultation before the areola pigmentation begins. Some customers may have to wait up to a year depending on the scarring. For the most part, Robinson said the process is not painful.
"It only takes me 10 to 15 minutes, and they don't have to pay $800 to $900 for it," He said.
Robinson was inspired by his aunt to provide the free service. Pamela Blackwell survived breast cancer twice, having had a radical mastectomy and undergone chemo after her bout with cancer in February 1992.
Then, it resurfaced in 2016.
The 67-year-old said she's proud of her nephew's gift to other breast cancer survivors.
"This is something he wants to do deep down in his heart," she said. "That makes me feel real good."
She, however, doesn't want Robinson's services.
"He asked me about the areola. I said, 'Baby, ain't nothing there to do one for,'" She said. "I said, 'When they took everything, they took everything.'"
Raquel Cheatle, on the other hand, wanted the free areola pigmentation. She was diagnosed with stage two breast cancer on Dec.25, 2015, and losing the fight was not an option.
"I have three daughters. I'm a single mom and I beat cancer," she said.
The 48-year-old grimaced through her free touch-up with Robinson. He lets customers choose the areola size, and some ask for his recommendation.—all hoping for a sense of the former.
"Every time that you look in the mirror you know it's' not the same," Cheatle said. "Granted, it's a whole lot better than not being free of cancer."
Robinson said each woman comes in with a different story, and he admires how each is able to bounce back.
Linda Axsom discovered she had breast cancer in February of 1996. The very next month, she was on an operating table, and underwent chemo over the next year before having tram flap reconstruction.
"Mine is where they cut hip to hip, sliced my stomach muscle and crossed up my heart," she said.
Axsom discovered Robinson's free areola pigmentation gift while visiting the tattoo shop where he works with a friend.
"It gave me much more confidence than what I thought I had," he said. "It made me feel more whole."
It also gives the 40-year-old a rewarding feeling, something he had not felt in his 23 years as a professional.
"Tattoo artists change the way people look everyday," he said.
This, however, is a change breast cancer survivors recognize is more than skin-deep.