Blanca Medellin didn’t think she was going to be able to be a nail technician after an accident on Oct. 2, 2022 caused glass to go through her right forearm cutting the tendon and nerves, which resulted in 23 stiches, a cast, fingers that were curled and wouldn’t straighten, and therapy. After not being able to do everyday activities like brushing her hair, Medellin began using her hand in July, started attending Nail Inn Academy in Joliet in August, and entered a nail art contest through the school in September. All thoughts of her not being able to design nails were erased when Medellin won the contest. (Photo contributed)
By BRANDON LaCHANCE
Staff writer
MENDOTA – If you ask Blanca Medellin how her last year has been, she’ll say rough.
The Mendota native’s right forearm had 23 stiches applied as she went through right flexor carpi ulnaris tendon repair, right flexor digitorum profundus repair, right ulnar artery repair, and right ulnar nerve repair after glass tore into her tendon and nerves in an accident on Oct. 2, 2022.
Medellin, who is attending Nail Inn Academy in Joliet and interning at Expression Salon in Mendota, thought her days of being a nail tech were numbered.
“A year went by so fast. I thought I was never going to be able to move my hand again,” Medellin said. “I didn’t think I was going to be able to work on nails and that I would have to find a different career. I couldn’t use my right hand at all at first. I’m still not 100-percent healed. I don’t have certain muscles and my right hand is thinner, smaller than my left.
“If I want to pick up a gallon of milk, I can’t. It still hurts my hand. I couldn’t do everyday things like cooking or brushing my hair or my teeth. I would get frustrated and would get down on myself, but with help from my family I’ve made it through.”
Since she is right-handed, everything seemed difficult.
Her parents, Nohemi and Celerino Medellin, and sisters Marion Quintana, the owner of Expressions, and Angelica helped her as much as possible.
Medellin’s children, Camilo (11) and Daniel (9), played a pivotal role in their mother’s recovery as they would brush her hair.
The intern, the student, and the mother went through a cast, an arm splint, removal of stiches, and months of therapy at OSF Saint Paul in Mendota before she could do things on her own.
In July she found herself doing more around the house and feeling more movement in her hand. When the accident first happened, she couldn’t move her fingers as they were curled and wouldn’t stretch.
She began school in August, 10 months after she thought nails were a thing of the past for her.
“I grew up practicing doing nails for my friends and my family. I knew this is what I wanted to do and the career path I wanted to follow,” Medellin said. “Everything I had learned was self-taught. I just practiced a lot. I decided to go to school at the Nail Inn Academy and I’ll graduate on Jan. 15. I just switched from a part-time student to a full-time student in hopes of graduating early.”
Through the Nail Inn Academy and two other nail institutes in the Joliet area, the Nail Inn Academy Art Competition was announced with a deadline of Sept. 22, 2023.
The competition called for 10 nails designed to tell a story.
“When they posted that there was going to be a nail art competition, my mind was made up and I told myself, ‘I’m going to do it. I’m going to go for it and see what happens,’” Medellin said. “Then they told us that the competition included three nail academies in the Joliet area. I see the work of the girls I go to school with, but I didn’t know what else was going to be brought to the table, so I was nervous, excited, and hoping for the best.
“When I found out I won, it was a feeling that I hadn’t felt in a long time.”
Medellin defeated 17 other nail designers through three academies to prove to herself that she is still meant to be in the profession.
Not only did she enjoy working on nails again, but the story she told was of her Mexican heritage that provided pride for her and her family.
The story of her culture told by Medellin on nails included Loteria (Mexican Bingo), flowers in 3D acrylics with limestones, Frida Khalo, splash talavera, zarape with the famous Mexican drink cantarito, tres tacos asada with guacamole, a sunset with a cowboy on a horse looking over a mountain top, maracas, piñata with a donkey, Mexican doll, pan dulce Mexican sweet bread, chocolate abuelita, and a night scenery with mountains and cactus.
“When the winners for first, second, and third were announced, I had a walk-in client so I couldn’t see immediately when the teacher said the results were posted,” Medellin said. “The girls came and hugged me, and I asked, ‘Did I win?’ I was really happy.
“My kids see me working on nails all the time and they tell me they look really cool. I told them if I won the contest that it was for them. They were happy, too.
“I was so emotional. It sinks in and it’s just, God is good. All the praying and asking him to help me, and he did. It’s been a rough year. I went through a divorce and I’m a single mother. It’s been tough, but at the end of the day there has been a little light letting me know I’m going to be OK.”
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