Up until he made the decision to get the ink removed from an astounding 95% of his body, he was the most tattooed guy in Brazil.
In an effort to get rid of more than two decadesβ worth of tattoos, Leandro de Souza has already had two laser sessions; the first was when he was just a young adolescent.
The 35-year-old photographer, who was converted to evangelicalism and now resides in the Brazilian border city of BagΓ©, close to Uruguay, decided to remove more than 170 tattoos.
βI did the first one when I was 13,βΒ de Souza told Brazilian online news outlet G1.Β βThe first ones were very much about the idolatry of the time.β
Favorite rock bands of the time, Nirvana, Guns Nβ Roses, and Metallica, served as inspiration for the tattoos.
After divorcing his wife ten years ago, De Souzaβs life took a turn for the worst.
He experimented with cocaine for the first time and then mixed ecstasy, LSD, and alcohol for nine years after his separation from the mother of his ten-year-old kid.
βI couldnβt stand the life I was living anymore,βΒ he said.Β βI was an attraction at (events I attended), and it felt like a circus animal.β
When De Souza went to a shelter and was exposed to evangelism, he had a fresh perspective on life.
βThe first step in everything in life is to accept that you canβt do it alone, that you are an addict, that you are a drug addict,βΒ de Souza said.
βAnd I managed to do that, I entered the municipal shelter in BagΓ©. Within a week, there was a lady who referred me and started to evangelize me.βΒ
Two years ago, De Souza preached toΒ βparents and children in homes that are in prisonsβΒ in an attempt to change the religion.
A Franco da Rocha, SΓ£o Paulo tattoo parlor, learned of de Souzaβs life-changing event on April 14, which also happened to be his birthday and one year without using drugs or cigarettes. He hasnβt had an alcoholic beverage in more than three years.
Six additional sessions, lasting thirty to forty minutes each, are still required of De Souza. These are arranged every three months.
βIt hurts a lot more than doing it,βΒ he said.Β βIt hurts three times more than doing it. Even with anesthesia, the process is very painful.β
