Man with 95% of his body tattooed shares insane transformation after removing them
A Brazilian man with 170 tattoos has spent months undergoing laser removal after deciding to turn his life around.
Leandro de Souza, 36, made headlines in 2023 when he was crowned Brazil's 'most tattooed' man at the Santa Rosa International Tattoo Expo, thanks to 95% of his body being covered in distinctive designs.
De Souza had started his tattoo journey at 13 years old, with his skin featuring an array of artworks, the most notable of which was a skull on his face.
But after building a following through his unique look, de Souza decided to go back to basics and have his entire life's work lasered off of his skin, beginning the process in 2024.
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Many tattoo fans say that the process of lasering and removing a tattoo is actually much more painful than the initial process of getting them done in the first place.
Each of de Souza's sessions lasts 30 to 40 minutes, and they're spaced out at three-month intervals. He revealed last year that it could take up to eight sessions to remove all of the ink.
De Souza took the drastic step out of a desire to become closer to God.
"I didn't feel good, it didn't suit me anymore," he said in a previous interview with Portuguese outlet O Globo. "It was a world of excess, which was no longer good for me. There came a time when I felt like a circus attraction."
De Souza added that the religious epiphany led him to change 'overnight', cutting out drugs, alcohol and cigarettes from his life and deciding to get the ink removed.
He has since documented the process on Instagram, writing in a recent post: "After the fifth session of facial tattoo removal, @helltatto - gratitude, it's about Jesus Christ."
Meanwhile, Hell Tattoo in São Paulo, which performed the work, said that de Souza felt like his 'dignity has been restored' by the process of removing his facial tattoos.
"It's important to remember: tattoos don't define character," the studio captioned their video of the transformation.
"What transforms a life are choices, effort, and the determination to move forward. In this process, tattoo removal is merely a reflection of a much larger internal change that helps align the external image with the new identity being constructed."
Tragically, de Souza was recently diagnosed with an 'aggressive malignant bladder cancer'. He has shared updates on his chemotherapy treatment on social media, and has said he will need to undergo surgery to remove his bladder and prostate.
In a picture from his first chemotherapy sessions shared this week, he said: "Let's defeat cancer together!"
Meanwhile, in a candid interview with local outlet G1, de Souza explained that he'd previously struggled with addiction.
However, after being introduced to evangelism at a shelter, he decided to transform his life and overhaul his image.
"I couldn't stand the life I was living anymore,' he said, adding: "I was an attraction at [events I attended] and it felt like a circus animal."
He is working towards getting a formal job in order to pay child support for his child and look after his mother.
"Think carefully before getting a face tattoo because I regret it," he added to CNN Brazil.
"I don't condemn tattoos. I believe that, after baptism and conversion, there are more important things for us to do, my dear brothers."
Topics: Mental Health, News, Religion
Jen Thomas