The Heartwarming Reason This Man 'Tattoos' Kids

'Nothing brings me more joy than boosting a kid's confidence with a tattoo.'
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An artist is using his skills to cheer up children in hospital, by giving them customised "tattoo sleeves".

Benjamin Lloyd, 25, from New Zealand, shared pictures on Facebook showing him giving his friend's son a customised 'tattoo sleeve', featuring skulls and roses.

"Nothing brings me more joy than boosting a kid's confidence with a custom tattoo," Lloyd wrote on Facebook on 22 May.

The tattoos are temporary and are drawn on using organic non toxic ink.

Lloyd promised that if his Facebook post received 50 likes he would go to Starship Children’s Hospital in Auckland, New Zealand, to "tat all the kids up."

"I painted this young man in nine minutes so ! promise no kid at Starship will go without," he wrote.

The impact of Lloyd's post far exceeded his expectations, notching up more than 450,000 likes.

True to his word, the artist shared photos from his visit to the hospital on Thursday 26 May.

Lloyd was inspired to use his drawing talent to boost children's confidence, by his own experience as a child.

"When I was two years old I had quite a bad burn on my hand and had a skin graft with my bum skin on my hand. I had a big complex about it," he explained to Stuff NZ.

"I was teased every day at school and so I would draw over my hand and up my sleeve. I just got better and better, eventually I had a line up of people wanting me to draw on them, I was doing deals with kids swapping cards and marbles".

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