A SUPPORTIVE dad spent 15 hours getting a tattoo replica of his young son’s giant birthmark in a show of solidarity with the self-conscious boy.
Canadian Derek Prue Sr. decided to get inked when he saw that his eight-year-old son Derek Prue Jr. was reluctant to take his short off when he went swimming,
“I just wanted him to feel good in his own skin. I thought it would be a nice thing to do to show him that he wasn’t alone,” Prue told the outlet.
Derek Jr. told SooTooday.com that his friends had started asking him about his large brown mark.
“They don’t make fun of it, but they ask me sometimes. I say it’s just a big brown mark that came with me when I was a little boy,” Derek told the outlet.
The son’s brown birthmark covers a large chunk of the boy’s chest and left side and took nine sittings with Tony Gibert to replicate, the tattoo artist told The Sun.
Gibert, the owner of Juicy Quill Tattoo, told The Sun that the whole process took about 15 hours – but he only charged the dad for four.
“It seemed like the right thing to do. I get to be part of their story and it shouldn’t cost an arm and a leg to put a smile on a kids face — but it cost him a lot of pain,” Gibert said.
Prue had to be frozen multiple times to manage the pain because that area of the body has sensitive nerve endings, Gibert said.
“The tattoo was actually about 10 to 15 hours because of lots of freezing and several sittings, as it’s a very painful area to be tattooed,” he said.
Prue unveiled the new tattoo to his son at local pool in Stony Plain, Alberta.
“I just kind of took my shirt off. He was wearing his shirt. I showed him that I had the exact same mark as hi,” Prue told SooToday.com.
Derek told CBC’s Edmonton AM that he had no idea his dad was getting the tattoo, but he was suspicious when his mom Shanel Prue had asked him to take pictures of his birthmark.
“I was happy, and I was a little confused,” Derek said.
When Derek was asked by his mom if he would go swimming without his shirt now, he said: “Whenever Daddy’s there I can take the shirt off.”
Gibert told The Sun that Prue’s reveal to his son was a “fantastic” experience.
cbc
