A dad was left in tears when he saw the tattoo that his son had made on his own neck of his brain tumour scan as a way of showing his support for him.
Matt Shanley, 47, said that he was shocked to find out that son Harry, 18, had got his skin emblazoned on the third anniversary of a life-saving operation to remove his brain tumour.
Harry, an apprentice carpenter, spent £70 on the tattoo as a surprise present to mark Matt's "craniversary".
Matt, from Cranfield, Bedfordshire, said: "I was in tears when he revealed it to me because I really hadn't expected it and I gave him a great big hug.
"It's a permanent reminder for Harry and, as well as being a great way to raise awareness for Brain Tumour Research.
"I thought if my brain tumour gets the better of me, he will have something there to explain to his children, if he has any, about their granddad."
Matt's wife Julie, 37, and their two children Elissa, 17, and Georgina, 23, are looking to get similar tattoos to mark the life-saving procedure at Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge in September 2018.
Matt has been left with his sight impaired from the surgery and also suffers from fatigue, memory problems and seizures. But the surgery saved his life.
Harry also was happy when he saw the tattoo.
He told MK Citizen: “It’s exactly what I wanted. I suggested using a cartoon image of a brain but the tattooist took my dad’s brain scans and created this realistic picture of it, with a blue rose growing through it where his tumour was. It’s like having something nice growing out of the evil tumour that was there.”
It took 45 minutes work from a tattoo artist and then he rushed to his grandma’s home where his dad was to surprise him.
He added: “Quite a few people have asked me about it and I’m happy to explain it to them because it’s about raising awareness too. It’s not a good memory but it’s something that’s happened in my life, it’s a huge part of all our lives now, and it needs to be made known to people how much one surgery can affect someone’s life.”
