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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
World
Liam McInerney & Hollie Bone

Man with more than 600 tattoos adds another controversial piece of art to skin

The man with more tattoos than everyone else in Ireland has added a new ink artwork to his body - portraying the controversial Kray twins.

Chris Dalzell, also known as Ireland's most tattooed man, has more than 600 tats on his body in a bid to cope with his daughter's health issues.

Jessica, now six, has been in and out of hospital since birth and suffers from Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, a rare condition affecting connective tissues, Daily Star reports.

But the dad has now added another tattoo - showing the Ronnie and Reggie Kray, twin gangsters who terrorised east London throughout the 50s and 60s.

Ireland’s most tattooed man gets Kray twins inked by sick daughter’s portrait for 'protection' (Chris Dalzell)
Chris with daughter Jessica, who was born with a rare and painful condition (Chris Dalzell)

The controversial inkwork is right beside a portrait of Chris' daughter Jessica on his back.

Explaining the move, he said: “The Kray brothers are on either side of her as if they are protecting her.

“I wanted the Krays because they are well-known famous figures. I was torn with Charles Bronson and them.

“I know the Krays have a bad reputation but they were very loyal. It was more about a sign of protection on my back.

“If I’m out and about with my T-shirt off people will see that it’s clearly a picture of my daughter and the meaning behind the Krays represents protection.”

Chris has just 5 per cent of bare skin left, but before becoming a dad, he had never had a tattoo.

But as Jessica battled her syndrome, spending the best part of two years in hospital, dad Chris found the art of tattooing provided him with a coping mechanism.

Chris explained his new tattoo has a sentimental reason (Chris Dalzell)

He said: “ Tattoos were a way for me to cope.

“When Jessica was home for respite for the week a friend who is a tattoo artist came to my house three times a week and tattooed me for eight hours.

“Seeing my daughter in the hospital with all the tubes was too much for me.”

The dedicated dad vowed to remove the tats if his inkwork ever caused problems for his children, but he insisted that is not the case.

Instead, Jessica loves her dad's body art and her school pals refer to Chris as the 'cool dad with the tattoos'.

After recently welcoming a second daughter to their family, Chris hopes his tattoos will show his children that anything is possible.

Chris has been dubbed 'Ireland's most tattooed man' (Chris Dalzell)
Chris is a former Jeremy Kyle contestant (Chris Dalzell)

The former Jeremy Kyle contestant explained: “If I can walk about the streets looking how I look now and lead a normal happy life and still get a job and earn good money then my kids can do whatever they set their mind to.

“There is nothing that can come in Jessica’s way after everything she’s been through.

“I want her to think ‘this is nothing for me’ and that’s my message.

“This isn’t about me, it's about raising awareness for my daughter and her rare condition.”

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