Harriet Trewhitt was 21 in 2024 when a painful ulcer on her tongue that wouldn’t go away turned out to be something much more serious. After several months of symptoms, a biopsy confirmed that she had stage 2 squamous cell carcinoma.
In May 2025, surgeons at University College London Hospital had to remove nearly half of her tongue and reconstruct it using skin and blood vessels from her left forearm.
But there was an unexpected detail in that tissue: Harriet had a semicolon tattooed on her arm, a symbol that represented her decision to keep living. The tattoo ended up being transferred along with the graft and is now part of her tongue. After several surgeries and proton therapy, the young woman continues to recover and has had to relearn how to speak and swallow. ❤️🩹
In 2026, her story drew attention again and also served as an important warning: a mouth ulcer that persists for more than three weeks should be checked by a healthcare professional, even if the person is young and appears to be healthy.