80-year-old gets his first tattoo

BY: Funmi Ojuroye  October 13th 2013


One of the participants of Spike TV show Ink Masters and Marine Corps veteran, Don Raider got his first tattoo at the age of 80 on the show, making him the oldest ‘human canvas’ for the competing tattoo artists. Raider is a veteran of the Korean War and served in the United States Marine Corps until his honourable discharge in 1959. He now has a Marine Corps logo on his upper left arm.Raider was hesitant to get a tattoo, as he used to believe in the negative connotations that are sometimes associated with tattoos (such as gang affiliation). He now states that he sees the artform for what it is. His journey with the show was begun by his wife Diana, who applied for the show for both of them without his knowledge. She wanted it to be a surprise for his 80th birthday. However, she was accepted and Raider was not. She applied several times again for her husband with no avail. Finally she turned to family and friends to begin a letter writing campaign to get him on the show. It worked. Raider appeared with several other military veterans on the show and paired with the artists in the night’s elimination round. He was paired with artist Kay Kutta who applied his new tattoo. Raider said he was doubtful on getting another tattoo, though he has not ruled it out. He stated that the tattoo ranked just below his boot camp experience in the most unique moments of his life.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Why do you want to kill yourself?

‘Mu’azu’s peace talks with Obasanjo failed’

Don Jazzy Reacts To The BamBam And Teddy A Sex Video #BBNaija