Auckland woman's reconstructed breast images pulled from Facebook

Nic Russell has done a photo shoot showing off her reconstructed breasts. Photo / Facebook

An Auckland woman who posted artistic photos of her reconstructed breasts on Facebook had her page pulled from the site.

Devonport mum, Nic Russell found out she had breast cancer in 2005, three months after her two-and-a-half-year old daughter, Kenzie, was diagnosed with paraspinal cancer.

Nic spent her 30s undergoing radiography and a double mastectomy, while Kenzie lost her fight with the "horrific" disease.

Turning 40 last week, Nic wanted to "slam the door" on the end of a rough decade while helping other women deal with making the decision to get a mastectomy.

She had a series of tasteful shots taken of her topless, athletic, body thoughtfully posing around Auckland's beaches.

"When you look online, most images are quite clinical or quite stark. It shows you a headless torso," she said.

"I thought, wouldn't it be nice to try and change the conversation around mastectomies and reconstruction, and celebrate it."

Nic's story and a link to the "uplifting images" was posted on the NZ Herald Online on Wednesday (read more here). Overnight, Facebook contacted Nic, telling her the content was "objectionable" and needed to be removed.

Nic Russell says her body tells her story. Photo / Facebook

"I was really disappointed that when Facebook looked at it they thought it was objectionable," Nic said this morning.

"I've seen some seriously objectionable stuff on Facebook...

"(My images are) not taboo. The intended audience was women going through this.

"You have to click to view, so don't click the images if you don't so wish.

"You had to dig down ... they were still discrete."

The Facebook page was back up and running by mid-morning on Thursday, but the 'objectionale' pictures have been removed and readers are instead refered to Nic's website.

Nic is now on a mission to get together a group of breast cancer survivors for a photoshoot showcasing the diversity of women who can be affected by the disease.

"I am here, I got to see my son grow up, I got to experience those moments in life, we all have a different journey," she said.

"Your body tells your story."