Мужчина удаляет татуировку с логотипом одежды после трагедии в Сэнди-Хук

It sounded like a good idea. Until it didn’t. In 2012, Will Wilson had started a new clothing line business. He named it after a favorite hangout for local boaters and fishermen, a sandbar on the Salt River they called Sandy Hook. He designed the Sandy Hook Apparel logo, then had it tattooed on his left shoulder. “Not too long after that, the school shooting happened – Sandy Hook Elementary,” Wilson said. “My wife texted me. ‘This is terrible.’ “The shooting was terrible, and I had this tattoo with Sandy Hook and a skull on my body,” he said. That was the end of his clothing line, but not the tattoo. “I’ve had it all these years, and I’ve always been kind of ashamed of it.” “It’s a nautical-themed tattoo. It was a nautical-themed clothing line,” he said. “But people might see the skull and think, ‘Oh, this guy’s some sick, morbid person celebrating the deaths of children.’ “But it’s not the reason I got it.” Tattoo regret is common Earlier this year, a study of Google searches related to tattoo removal and cover-ups ranked Florida seventh among the states most likely to regret their tattoos. A former partner’s name, portrait or a matching “couple’s tattoo” after a breakup is high on the list of tattoo regrets. “My ex convinced me when we were together, that I should get his name tattooed on me,” Krystal Sharp wrote on the Chronicle’s Facebook page. “Most definitely regret it!” In a reply post, Pattie Shorey wrote, “I totally understand. I had my tattoo covered up within 12 hours after I threw him out. I had his last name on my inside wrist. Now it’s a beautiful feather.” With modern technology, tattoos are no longer necessarily forever. “I have quite a few that I regret,” said Rocky Veal, owner of Delete Tattoo Removal in Hernando. “From the time I was 17 to the time I was 19, I had gotten eight or nine tattoos. And almost every single one of those, I’m currently removing.” Her first tattoos at 17 were Dallas Cowboys stars on her back shoulder blades. “What you get when you’re 17 is not who represents you later,” she said. “Just things that at the time sounded like a really good idea, and then as time passed, it’s less of a good idea.” She said a neck tattoo cost her a job at Red Lobster. “They didn’t notice it when they hired me,” she said. “But when I showed up for my first day, they fired me on the spot.” Even though her business is tattoo removal, Veal said she loves tattoos. She and her husband, Ryan, have many themselves. “I think that gives us a really unique perspective,” Veal said. “People are very surprised when they come in and see us. I think it makes a lot of our clients feel a lot more comfortable. They come in and they’re like, ‘Oh, nobody’s judging me here.’” From permanent to removable In years past, tattoo removal was primitive, painful and potentially dangerous. People tried scraping, burning or cutting away their inked skin, causing permanent scarring and sometimes life-threatening infections. Lasers were introduced in the late 1960s and worked like a microscopic torch. Today’s Pico laser technology uses ultra-short pulses that break down tattoo ink into microscopic dust particles. It’s non-invasive and feels like the snap of a rubber band on your skin, Veal said. “Most people are under the laser for, on average, two to three minutes for a smaller tattoo. And if you had a very large one, you may be under it for seven to 10 minutes,” she said. Also, with larger tattoos, removal can take multiple visits. “We see a lot of people come in here and just want a lightening process, not a complete removal. They’re not against tattoos – they just don’t like what they’ve got.” She said lightening a tattoo about 60 to 70 percent is enough for a new tattoo to go over it. “With that, your door is open to where the new tattoo artist isn’t so limited on what they can put there, and you can actually get something you love,” she said. Earlier this summer, Will Wilson started the process of getting his Sandy Hook tattoo removed by Rocky. Ryan Veal is Wilson’s cousin. “I’m keeping the nautical skull and the ropes, because I’m going to add some water to the bottom of it or something,” He said. “But she’s removing the lettering for me.” Wilson said he’s relieved. “No one ever has ever said anything, but I have gotten some strange looks,” he said. “It’s under my shirt sleeve most of the time, so you can’t see it. But if I’m at the pool, it’s out there – my stupid shirt logo.” Since opening in May, Veal said people have come in with all kinds of stories about their tattoos and why they want them removed. “A lot of wedding band tattoos and sentimental relationship tattoos,” she said. “Sometimes a domestic violence situation where they felt pressure to get tattoos of someone’s name on them.” Some clients tell her about a life they’re not proud of and decisions they regret and how their tattoos are no longer part of a new life they’re trying to live. “It’s so incredible to be a part of that journey,” she said. “They tell you their story and you’re thinking, ‘How are you even here today?’ “It just makes you feel so good to give them that clean slate.” For more information about Delete Tattoo Removal, visit the website at: deletetattooremoval.com. Delete Tattoo Removal is at 2500 N. Anvil Terr., Hernando. Phone: 352-699-5073.