This is an excerpt from an article written by Helen O'Neill on October 31, 2011.
I try to share current events and various news stories every now
and then, especially ones like the following. This is an inspiring story of a
reformed skinhead who chooses to endure agony to have his hate-inspired tattoos
removed. It’s a great example of Triumphing over HATE ... or anything holding us back from living a full and abundant life. They say most hate is caused by fear and
fear is brought on by ignorance. When we choose to look past our
differences, get to know each other better, replace unfamiliarity with
understanding and fear with appreciation, new opportunities unfold to us that are difficult to imagine. The
whole world becomes a better place.
Here’s one Triumphant example of a skinhead-turned-father who,
in his own small way, is helping to make it just that.
Nice job, brother. My “tatt is off" to you.
J. Patrick Laing
Reformed Skinhead Endures Agony to Remove Tatoos
"We had come so far," she says. "We had left the
movement, had created a good family life. We had so much to live for. I just
thought there has to be someone out there who will help us."
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After getting married in 2006, the couple, former pillars of the
white power movement (she as a member of the National Alliance, he a founder of
the Vinlanders gang of skinheads) had worked hard to put their racist past
behind them. They had settled down and had a baby; her younger children had
embraced him as a father.
EDITOR'S NOTE: A reformed skinhead, Bryon Widner was desperate
to rid himself of the racist tattoos that covered his face—so desperate that he
turned to former enemies for help, and was willing to endure months of pain. [Second
of two parts.]
And yet, the past was ever-present—tattooed in brutish symbols
all over his body and face: a blood-soaked razor, swastikas, the letters
"HATE" stamped across his knuckles.
Wherever he turned Widner was shunned—on job sites, in stores
and restaurants. People saw a menacing thug, not a loving father. He felt like
an utter failure.
Continued…..
On June 22, 2009, Widner lay on an operating table, his mind
spinning with anxiety and hope. A nurse dabbed numbing gel all over his face.
Shack towered over him in protective goggles and injected a local anesthetic.
Then he started jabbing Widner's skin, the laser making a staccato rat-tat-tat
sound as it burned through his flesh.
Widner had never felt such pain. Not all the times he had
suffered black eyes and lost teeth in bar brawls, not the time in jail when
guards—for fun—locked him up with a group of black inmates in order to see him
taken down. His face swelled up in a burning rage, his eyes were black and
puffy, his hands looked like blistered boxing gloves. He had never felt so
helpless or so miserable.
"I was real whiny during that time," he says.
"He was real brave," says Julie.
After a couple of sessions, Shack decided that Widner was in too
much pain: the only way to continue was to put him under general anesthetic for
every operation. It was also clear that the removal was going to take far
longer than the seven or eight sessions he had originally anticipated.
They developed a routine. Every few weeks, Widner would spend
about an hour and a half in surgery and another hour in recovery, while Julie
would fuss and fret and try to summon the strength to hide her fears and smile
at the bruised, battered husband she drove home. It would often take days for
the burns and oozing blisters to subside.
Shack and his team marveled at Widner's determination and
endurance. The Widners marveled at the team's level of commitment and care.
Even nurses who were initially intimidated by Widner's looks found themselves
growing fond of the stubborn former skinhead and his young family.
Slowly—far more slowly than Widner had hoped—the tattoos began
to fade. In all he underwent 25 surgeries over the course of 16 months, on his
face, neck and hands.
On Oct. 22, 2010, the day of the final operation, Shack hugged
Julie and shook hands with Bryon. Removing the tattoos, he said, had been one
of his greatest honors as a surgeon. But a greater privilege was getting to
know them.
"Anyone who is prepared to put
himself through this is bound to do something good with his life," Shack
said.
I couldn't agree more. Anyone who puts themselves through challenging, painful or difficult experiences for a higher good deserves to be congratulated. I think Bryon definitely does. If you read this, your story is inspiring to us all.
Thanks for your example. We won't soon forget it..... Most respectfully, JPR
Wow!
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