Eight-year-old Derek Prue Jr. has a birthmark on his torso that he doesn’t like.
“I knew he was self-aware about it,” said his father, Derek Prue Sr. against the CBC. “I saw how he reacted, and I wanted to do it so he wouldn’t be alone.”
Derek Sr. recently spent a total of 30 hours getting a huge tattoo – a replica of his son’s birthmark.
It was a long, painful ordeal, but the father was happy to do it for his son so they would match. “I remember the first time I came in, I lay down and after maybe three, four hours I was like, ‘Yeah, are we almost done?’ And Tony said, ‘Yeah, we’re almost done [with] the outline. ”
Tattoo artist Tony Gibbert, owner of the Juicy Quill tattoo studio in Stony Plain, Canada, told the CBC that the tattoo is on a painful area on the body. “He passed the wringer for that,” Gibbert said. “It’s pretty painful.”
Still, Derek Sr. wanted it to look just like his son’s. The entire process took six to eight weeks.
He finally revealed the tattoo just before it was finished – and Derek Jr. didn’t believe it. “I was happy and I was a little confused,” Derek told the CBC. “I didn’t know he would.”
Derek Sr. Surprised his son while swimming, which was symbolic, as Derek Jr. usually wears a shirt in the pool to cover the mark.
Gibbert said when he found out why the dad got the tattoo, he thought the reason was “great.”
“Just being able to go swimming with his dad and take his shirt off and be happy and comfortable. I’m glad to be a part of it, in a little way I can help with what he’s trying to do,” Gibbert said.
Derek Jr. told his mom he now takes off his shirt when he swims. “When Dad’s there, I can take the shirt off,” he said.
For Derek Sr. that answer makes it all worthwhile. “Now we have the same characteristics for life,” he said.