Lebanese Tattoo Artist Helps Breast Cancer Survivors to Heal

Lebanese tattoo artist Joa Antoun attends an interview with Reuters at her studio in Dekwaneh, Lebanon March 11, 2022. Picture taken March 11, 2022. REUTERS/Emilie Madi
Lebanese tattoo artist Joa Antoun attends an interview with Reuters at her studio in Dekwaneh, Lebanon March 11, 2022. Picture taken March 11, 2022. REUTERS/Emilie Madi
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Lebanese Tattoo Artist Helps Breast Cancer Survivors to Heal

Lebanese tattoo artist Joa Antoun attends an interview with Reuters at her studio in Dekwaneh, Lebanon March 11, 2022. Picture taken March 11, 2022. REUTERS/Emilie Madi
Lebanese tattoo artist Joa Antoun attends an interview with Reuters at her studio in Dekwaneh, Lebanon March 11, 2022. Picture taken March 11, 2022. REUTERS/Emilie Madi

For Lebanese breast cancer survivor Roula Saad, a decade-long struggle with the disease was not over until tattoo artist Joa Antoun concealed her surgical scars, helping her deal with the physical and psychological impact of a double mastectomy.

“I hated looking at myself in the mirror, I changed a lot. I felt I was forced to live in a state of grief, I was mourning my femininity and the loss of part of my body,” Reuters quoted Saad as saying. “I was not reconciled with myself at all, nor with my own image.”

The mother of two now proudly wears her tattoo designs as a testament to her victory over the disease. She described it as a therapeutic and life-changing experience, adding: “It was like being born again.”

In addition to offering tattoos to conceal surgical scars, tattoo artist Antoun, 31, has also been offering free tattoos.

Often in their 50s, many of the women she works with were reluctant at first, she said, reflecting social taboos in Lebanon.

“They thought that it was not worth it, that it was too late for them. But getting these tattoos is becoming more normalized and accepted,” added Antoun, who also helped survivors of the 2020 Beirut port explosion cover their scars with tattoos.

Marie-Therese Chamma, a 52-year-old who had treatment, said shedding her hair and losing weight was not as troubling for her as losing her breasts to the disease.

“I looked at myself and could see the scars … I could not fully accept what was happening to me, but told myself I can always change things after finishing (treatment),” she said.

After viewing Antoun’s website, she decided to seek her help: “I was very hesitant but I felt that she is aware of how we feel and of our fears so I called and took an appointment.”



Firefighters Battle a Wildfire Burning Out of Control on the Greek Island of Chios

A firefighting helicopter during firefighting operations on Chios Island, Greece, 24 June 2025. EPA/KOSTAS KOURGIAS
A firefighting helicopter during firefighting operations on Chios Island, Greece, 24 June 2025. EPA/KOSTAS KOURGIAS
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Firefighters Battle a Wildfire Burning Out of Control on the Greek Island of Chios

A firefighting helicopter during firefighting operations on Chios Island, Greece, 24 June 2025. EPA/KOSTAS KOURGIAS
A firefighting helicopter during firefighting operations on Chios Island, Greece, 24 June 2025. EPA/KOSTAS KOURGIAS

Hundreds of firefighters backed up by aircraft were battling a wildfire burning out of control for the third day on the eastern Aegean island of Chios Tuesday, with authorities issuing multiple evacuation orders.

Towering walls of flames tore through forest and agricultural land on the island, where authorities have declared a state of emergency and have sent firefighting reinforcements from Athens, the northern city of Thessaloniki and the nearby island of Lesbos, said the Associated Press.

By Tuesday morning, the fire department said 444 firefighters with 85 vehicles were tackling the blaze on scattered fronts. Eleven helicopters and two water-dropping planes were providing air support.

Emergency services have issued evacuation orders for villages and settlements in the area since Sunday, when fires broke out near the island’s main town. The fire department has sent an arson investigation team to Chios to examine the cause of the blaze.

“We are faced with simultaneous fires in multiple, geographically unconnected parts of the island — a pattern that cannot be considered coincidental,” Climate Crisis and Civil Protection Minister Giannis Kefalogiannis said Monday from Chios. Authorities, he said, were “very seriously examining the possibility of an organized criminal act, in other words arson.”

The minister said police forces on the island had been reinforced, while military patrols had been doubled.

“Whoever thinks that they can play with the lives of citizens and cause chaos with premeditated actions will be led to court,” Kefalogiannis said. “Arson is a serious crime and will be dealt with as such.”

Wildfires are frequent in Greece during its hot, dry summers. In 2018, a massive fire swept through the seaside town of Mati, east of Athens, trapping people in their homes and on roads as they tried to flee. More than 100 died, including some who drowned trying to swim away from the flames.