Dr. Dawn Linn, D.O., spends her free time removing tattoos from recovering addicts.

She has always been interested in helping people. After all, it’s what drew her to become a specialist in family medicine, focusing on the health and well-being of multi-generational families. “I always tell people that I got into family medicine because I'm nosey and because I get to ask a lot of questions,” says Dr. Linn. “People tend to talk to me and tell me about their lives, so I've always been super interested in people.”

After receiving her degree in osteopathic medicine in 2007 from the West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine and completing her residency in family medicine at UT Jackson in 2010, Dr. Linn opened her own practice, Rapha Family Medicine, in Hendersonville in 2013. As busy as she is, Dr. Linn has always welcomed new opportunities to volunteer her time and contribute to the community as whole.

Approximately five years ago, a series of events provided Dr. Linn with a unique opportunity to do just that. In addition to family medicine, Dr. Linn is one of the only physicians in the area who works with patients in the field of addiction medicine, offering medical and therapeutic services to patients who are in the process of recovering from alcohol or drug abuse.

Via members of the Hendersonville Rotary Club, Dr. Linn was asked to become a member of the board for the Sumner County Recovery Court, which is presented as an alternative to incarceration, and provides rehabilitation services to community members who have been arrested because of drug or alcohol addiction. 

“It was kind of natural that I would be asked to join the board because I'm a physician who does a lot of work with recovery. I was invited because they wanted a medical expert to help with any medical questions,” Dr. Linn describes.

During this time, Dr. Linn had been growing her practice with the addition of a wellness spa, and in response to a perceived need within the community, she invested in the equipment necessary for tattoo removal. While training to remove tattoos, Dr. Linn met a practitioner who offered free tattoo removal services for previously incarcerated individuals, as well as women who had either been victims of sex trafficking or had worked in the sex industry. 

After this unexpected meeting, Dr. Linn understood the need for more of these types of services in the area. “They’re trying to get their lives back on track and they can’t really afford to pay for it because it's a very expensive procedure, so I thought this might be a way for me to give back,” she says.

It didn’t take long for the first opportunity to present itself, and Dr. Linn was asked what it would cost to remove a facial tattoo for a former prisoner in the shape of a teardrop. There are multiple things a teardrop tattoo can signify; from a lengthy prison sentence to gang affiliation, to the fact that a prisoner has committed murder or attempted murder. “Basically, if you see a teardrop tattoo, you can be sure that it has a negative connotation attached to it,” explains Dr. Linn. 

When asked about the cost of removal, Dr. Linn didn’t hesitate, “I just remember saying that I would do it for free, that I was just going to do it for him because he's out there trying to get his life back together and help raise his kids.”

In addition to formerly incarcerated prisoners, Dr. Linn volunteers her time and efforts to remove tattoos from victims of sex trafficking, as well as former sex workers. Due to its location, Nashville is among the top twenty states for human trafficking, as it is considered a transportation hub for victims. 

According to Dr. Linn, “There are quite a few agencies in Nashville who assist victims. The first agency I worked with was an organization called Grace Place, and they began sending women to me for tattoo removal.”

Over the course of five years, Dr. Linn estimates that she has removed approximately twelve tattoos from former prisoners and victims of sex trafficking. Often, her kindness is met with initial skepticism. “I think they're shocked to know that someone is looking at them in a different light,” says Dr. Linn. “They're so used to being looked down upon and having people judge them. When someone gives them something for free, they're wondering, what's the catch? You know nothing's free.”

Removing a tattoo is not only expensive, but a long and labor-intensive process. It can take up to twelve sessions for a tattoo to be completely removed, depending on the depth of the original tattoo and the kind of ink used. Beyond this, for the skin to heal properly, there must be a period of at least two months between sessions. 

All told, through her volunteer efforts, Dr. Linn is providing a service that normally ranges in cost from two hundred to several thousand dollars.

Most of the people Dr. Linn has worked with want to be free of their past and have a fresh start. “They don't want to see who they used to be, and some of those old tattoos are representative of an old life that they don't want to remember,” she explains.

In essence, Dr. Linn believes tattoos should represent who someone is, rather than who they once were, and that because of this, the process of tattoo removal goes far more than skin deep.