Rushing to the bathroom mirror, Darcie took one look at herself and burst into tears, thrashing her arms as she collapsed to the floor. “My life is over—look at the state of me!” she wailed, over and over again.

Just minutes earlier, it had been an entirely normal Sunday afternoon for Darcie Rowlandson. The then nineteen-year-old farmer was on autopilot, and it was now time for the final job of the day- bringing in her cow, Darlene, for milking. 

At around 4 p.m., the teenager headed out into Darlene’s field. Ignoring the slick, muddy grass, Darcie’s mind wandered away as she guided the animal forwards. 

Then, in a split second, everything went wrong. Darcie’s foot slid out from beneath her on the wet ground, and she lurched forward, instinctively tightening her grip on Darlene’s halter as she tried to steady herself. The sudden pull had startled the cow. Through no fault of her own, Darlene kicked out, her hind leg catching Darcie square in the face. 

The impact sent Darcie crashing to the ground, stunned and disoriented. After steadying herself, Darcie crawled onto her feet and staggered towards her house at the end of the field. 

“The next thing I properly remember is being in hospital,” Darcie says. “ I was in a real state. I was really badly bruised, my lip was burst open, my face was cut. I needed quite a few stitches.”

“I couldn’t see properly out of my left eye for a week after the accident, which was so scary. In the end everything healed well, but it could’ve been a lot worse. I was most scared that I would get bad scars which wouldn’t heal.

“When I went back to the hospital, a few days later, I ended up speaking to a nurse and told her about my worries. She first told me about medical tattooing, what it is and how it can help people.”

Whilst recovering at home in the weeks after the accident, Darcie reflected on what had happened, realising she had been fortunate to escape relatively unscathed.

“I started to think more and more about learning medical tattooing. I wasn’t really going anywhere with farming at the time, and I liked the idea of being able to help people who had suffered accidents, like me.” 

After some long conversations with her parents, and a good deal of soul searching, Darcie decided to start looking for training programmes in medical tattooing, eventually finding ‘the perfect’ course in Wilmslow, Cheshire. 

“It looked amazing in Wilmslow. It was really expensive, but to be honest the main problem was that I wasn’t sure if it could, because of my dyslexia.”

First diagnosed in 2012 at the age of seven, the neurodivergence has had a massive impact both on her and her family’s lives. Several members of Darcie’s close family suffer with the disorder, including her sister and dad. 

Darcie moved schools several times after repeatedly feeling ignored and alienated by teachers. Eventually, her parents stepped in and arranged for home schooling, which she completed alongside studying part time at Myerscough, a local agricultural college. 

“Oh, Dyslexia is a nightmare.” Darcie sighs, whilst looking down at her feet. 

“Because you are told, ‘Oh, you’re not good at this’ from a very young age in school, you put yourself down and end up with no self-belief. I am a resilient person, but even I get down when I can’t do stuff. 

“When I was younger, there would be meltdowns every five minutes. Now I get over stimulated. You have to work like, 10 times harder, but no one appreciates that, and then you are constantly on a rev meter all the time.

“Things keep building up and building up, to the point where whatever task I have, it just metals and falls apart.”

Medical tattooing has enjoyed a massive rise in popularity in recent years. Since 2017, artists like Lucy Thompson have pioneered advanced techniques, helping the industry to move mainstream.

The NHS is beginning to embrace the practice and make it more accessible, although most patients still look to private clinics for their treatments. 

Darcie, now aged 21, launched her own medical tattooing company, As Before, in June 2024, running her clinics out of centres in Blackpool and Wilmslow. 

Since opening As Before has gone from strength to strength, and Darcie has now treated scores of patients for a range of different issues.

“The procedure is simpler than you might think. It’s just like a normal tattoo, except you’ll need a few sessions.

“On the first consultation, I have to find the right colour of ink to match their skin colour, which can be a nightmare. I sometimes have to mix colours together, so it can take a while. Once I’ve got the colours sorted, then I tattoo them.

“We’ll do another round of tattooing soon after the first, and then another top up a few months after. After that, you only need top ups every two years.

“Usually, it costs about £75 per session to cover a very small scar. For larger treatments, it is a lot more, because I have to use a lot more ink, as well as time. 

There are a number of different issues which can be treated by medical tattooing. According to Darcie, the most common treatments are covering scars, stretchmarks and birthmarks. In rarer cases, she can also treat self harm scars and sexual abuse wounds.

Darcie has also treated a number of women who bravely managed to overcome breast cancer.. Beaming proudly from ear to ear, Darcie pulled up a text message from one of her first ever clients, a woman who was treated after cancer. 

It read: ‘The service that you provided was outstanding. From the start of the process at the consultation to the aftercare you conducted it with professionalism and care. The standard of work done is just fabulous- transforming not just how I look aesthetically but restoring my femininity and helping me to move forward with my life after the reconstruction. Thank you for the work that you’ve done and thank you for making me feel so very at ease. I truly appreciate you for helping me in my recovery journey.’

“It makes me so happy to read messages like that.” Darcie added. “That’s why I love the job. Being able to help people, especially women who’ve been through such an awful thing like cancer, is amazing.

“It can be super hard too though. One time, I treated a lady who was really badly sexually abused. She came with a support worker, because whoever abused her had put cigars out on her, all over her body. So it’s hard to deal with situations like those. 

“Some clients come thinking that I can get their skin back to exactly how it was, but sometimes it’s hard to find the right ink. I try my best to get it perfect, but it’s not always possible, so it’s hard to disappoint them too. 

“I still love medical tattooing, though, and it’s what I want to keep doing. It’s hard at the moment because I’m still farming, but If I can go full time soon then it’ll be great. 

“It would be a complete lifestyle change, giving up farming, but I’d still like to give it a try. Ideally I’ll be able to buy a nice big house with some land for animals if the tattooing keeps growing like it has.”