DEDCIATED uncle Sean Ing is taking on a 24-hour tattoo-a-thon in aid of sick and premature baby charity, Leo’s.
Sean, 29 of Skelton, who owns the New Ingk tattoo studio in Brotton, will spend from 9am on the first of March until 9am on the second of March tattooing one of his most loyal customers, Ryan Cane.
Ryan, who has already had his chest, arm, leg and stomach tattooed by Sean, will be getting his entire back tattooed to fundraise for Leo’s.
Leo’s, which launched back in 2018, supports families through traumatic births, the neonatal journey and beyond. The charity supports neonatal units at The James Cook University Hospital, Darlington Memorial Hospital and North Durham Hospital. It also works with the maternity department at The University Hospital of North Tees and the Northern Neonatal Network.
The tattoo-a-thon will be live streamed on Facebook via the New Ingk page with the hopes the dads can hit their £1,000 target.
Sean, said: “I already work 13-hour days, which I’m used to, but this is going to be tough going.
“The world record is currently 60 hours for one tattoo sitting, but I also need to consider Ryan and how much pain he can take as I’ll have to work around him swelling up and being sore.”
“I’m a dad of four beautiful kids, and after seeing what my partner Rachel’s brother, Richard and his family went through with their son Hugo, I knew I wanted to give back.”
Richard and Laura Playforth’s little boy Hugo was born back in 2018 and was cared for on the neonatal unit at The James Cook University Hospital where they received one of the Leo’s welcome boxes.
Laura Playforth said: “Leo’s helped my husband and I while our son Hugo had a stay on the neonatal ward by providing us with a welcome box which was very unexpected. It helped us to realise that there was a support system out there other than our family that would understand what we were going through.
“Sean wanted to get involved in donations for Leo’s because he saw first-hand how much of an impact a gesture like the welcome boxes can make for a family like ours when going through a difficult time with a baby on a neonatal unit.
“When we told him about the story behind the charity, he felt so passionate about giving back to such a thoughtful organisation and wanted to ensure Leo’s gets the recognition it deserves.”
Leo’s welcome boxes include various items for parents such as a book for parents to read to baby to encourage bonding, a journal for parents to write about their journey, a hand and foot ink printing kit with a photo frame, a onesie for baby, hand cream and lip balm and a voucher for the canteen.
Lottie King, founder and chair of Leo’s, said: “Hearing the difference our welcome boxes make is really wonderful, we’re so pleased to have been able to support Hugo’s parents during their time on the neonatal unit at The James Cook University Hospital.
“Sean and Ryan really are pulling out the stops to fundraise for us and we’re really grateful to them for their support.”
You can watch the live tattoo session via the New Ingk Facebook page here https://www.facebook.com/NewIngk/
To donate please head to https://www.gofundme.com/24hour-tattoo-sitting-for-leo039s-neonatal-jc?fbclid=IwAR2MCD2CtowxlKv8MToY5dlDGDnSonD203IKrYjbfzck1f6k__S3yqzS3FY
You can find out more about Leo’s at www.leosneonatal.org or on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at @leosneonatal