Eight-year-old Derek Prue Jr. has a birthmark on his torso that he doesn’t like.
“I knew I was aware of it,” said his father, Derek Prue Sr. “I saw how he reacted and it made me want to do it so I wasn’t the only one.”
Derek Sr. recently spent a total of 30 hours getting a massive tattoo – a replica of his son’s birthmark.
It was a long and painful ordeal, but the father was happy to do it for his son to match. “I remember the first time I walked in, I stretched, and after three, four hours, I said,‘ Yeah, are we about to finish? And Tony said, ‘Yeah, we’re done [with] the scheme. “”
Tattoo artist Tony Gibbert, owner of the Juicy Quill tattoo studio in Stony Plain, Canada, told CBC that the tattoo is in a painful spot on the body. “He’s been sitting there for that,” Gibbert said. “It’s pretty painful.”
Still, Derek Sr. wanted him to look the same as his son. The whole process took six to eight weeks to complete.
He finally revealed the tattoo just before it was over, and Derek Jr. was in disbelief. “I was happy and a little confused,” Derek told CBC. “I didn’t know I would.”
Derek Sr. he surprised his son as he swam, which was symbolic, as Derek Jr. usually wears a shirt by the pool to cover the mark.
Gibbert said that when he found out why his father got the tattoo, he thought the reason was “amazing.”
“Just being able to go swimming with his dad, take off his shirt and be happy and comfortable. I’m happy to be a part of it, in a small way I can help with what he’s trying to do,” Gibbert said.
Derek Jr. told his mother that he will now take off his shirt when he swims. “As long as Dad is there, I can take off my T-shirt,” he said.
For Derek Sr., this answer is worth it. “We now have the same brands for life,” he said.