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Punk nursing student has TV makeover to make him look more ‘professional’ to patients

A television makeover crew has helped a nursing student look ‘more professional’ by taming his wild punk rocker image.
Body Fixers

A nursing student turned to TV makeover show Body Fixers to achieve his aim of looking ‘more professional’ by changing his punk rocker image.


Niall, a nurse, could fit two pens into the hole in his earlobe. Photo: E4

In the most recent episode of E4 series nursing student Niall went under the knife and scissors to close the 36-millimetre holes in his earlobes and tame his eye-catching Mohawk hairstyle.

The Body Fixers show has reignited the debate into whether appearance is important in nursing.

Explaining how he had been stretching his ears for eight years, Niall told presenters: ‘The trouble is my look is so extreme people find me totally unapproachable. Sometimes it is intimidating and scary.

‘As much as I love the punk look, I’ve grown out of it now and I need to be seen as more professional.

‘It’s the job first.’

On the programme, which aired on 17 August, Niall demonstrated to cosmetic doctor Tijon Esho how flexible the holes in his earlobes had become by pushing two pens through them. Series hairdresser Daniel Gran remarked it can be ‘handy for a nurse’ to have somewhere to store a pen while on shift.

Surgeon Sultan Hassan performed the operation to stitch the earlobes back together while Niall was awake but under local anaesthetic.

‘Bird’s nest’

He then returned to Mr Granger’s salon to have his long locks trimmed. He said his hairstyle was like a ‘bird’s nest’ that took over an hour and half a can of hairspray a day to complete.

After being shown his new look in a mirror, Niall said: ‘I really, really like it. I can’t get over my ears.


Photo: E4

‘No more piercings. I’m happy with my ears now – I’m so excited to have normal ears.’

Dr Esho said: ‘There’s a hospital ward somewhere out there that needs a new nurse.’

Earlier this month, a Facebook post by a man in the United States defending his nurse mother's tattoos went viral.

Jordan Miller urged employers to look beyond his mother’s body art, insisting it does not affect her work ethic.

Last year, a Facebook post by a US nurse with colourful hair, multiple piercings and tattoos received hundreds of thousands of views after she had written about being criticised for her appearance.

She also gained support from followers of Nursing Standard’s Facebook page.


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