A Dad Lived Through 30 Hours of Tattoo Pain So His Son Could Feel Better About His Birthmark (Photos)

“He was always proud of his birthmark, and then I saw he started to kind of cover it up,” a Canadian dad got candid. He brought joy to his son by getting a tattoo that matched his 8-year-old’s birthmark, enduring a 30-hour tattoo session in the process.

Over time, the young boy came to realize that he was unique.

Derek Prue Sr., hailing from Stony Plain, Alberta, noticed that his son, Derek Jr., was hesitant to remove his t-shirt at the swimming pool. Derek Jr. has had a significant birthmark on his chest since birth. “I think he was maybe a little bit self-conscious about it. I wanted to get the same thing, so he wouldn’t be the only one,” Derek Sr. said.

Derek Sr. secretly went to Juicy Quill Tattoo for the first of 9 sessions. He thought it would be a single session, but it turned into about 30 hours over time. The first session was around 4 hours, and he didn’t know how much was done. He had to be numbed multiple times because the tattoo’s size and position hurt a lot.

The tattoo is identical to his son’s birthmark on his chest. The tattoo artist, Tony Gibbert, explained that the area of the body where the tattoo was put — the ribs and chest — has sensitive nerves: “It’s pretty painful.”

But no amount of pain can weaken the strength of a father’s love.

The son didn’t know what his father had done until they went swimming together. At the pool, the father took off his shirt, showing his matching tattoo to his son who still had his shirt on. The son thought it was cool and took off his shirt, playing in the pool comfortably — just like his dad had hoped.

People sometimes asked the boy about his birthmark, but he didn’t mind and told them it’s just a big brown mark he’s had since he was little.

Later, both the father and son went back to the tattoo place. The artist, Gibbert, got to see his work and hear that this tattoo had had a big impact on Derek Sr.’s son’s life, making him more confident and helping him feel like he wasn’t alone with his birthmark. He mentioned that now, the mark was a part of him forever.

A father’s love knows no bounds, turning ordinary moments into cherished memories. One dad’s act of attending a game, covered in dirt, just to share the experience with his son, garnered widespread attention and warmed hearts everywhere. Check out their story here.