I have several tattoos, and they all say something about the things I love. One pays tribute to my fascination with the Roman Empire, others reference video games, and I even have a fork with pasta and basil tattooed on me because… well, I’ve seen people with pizza tattoos, avocado tattoos. Why can’t I have permanent proof of my love for pasta?
But tattoos can tell very different stories. For a 19-year-old man in New Zealand, one drunken night in prison left him with the word “DEVAST8” covering much of his face. What started as a tattoo made between brothers soon became something that followed him far, far beyond prison.
The unusual tattoo eventually attracted worldwide attention and created an unexpected problem when he tried to rebuild his life. But what happened to the young man afterward took the story in a very different direction.
