GRIMSBY, England — A couple in England tattooed their legs to ensure their daughter never felt different or alone in the world.
Adam and Tanya Phillips’ new tattoos duplicate the strawberry rose birthmark their 18-month-old daughter Honey-Rae was born with.
Her birthmark stretches from her toes to her lower back.
Honey-Rae’s mother Tanya told the Mirror, “She’s struggled to breathe when she was first born and was rushed to the special care unit. When I went to see her she was just lying in a little incubator and that’s when I saw it. It broke my heart.”
Tanya said the day she made up her mind to get the tattoo was after a shopping trip in the summer. While in the check-out line, an older couple kept staring at Honey-Rae’s leg and whispering.
“And I knew if adults could be that insensitive, then kids at school would also be unintentionally mean,” Tanya said.
She said getting the tattoo was incredibly painful, but was worth every second of the pain.
“When the swelling went down, I showed Honey-Rae, and she gently touched it and smiled as she said “Match”, pointing to her own leg.”
