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1 month ago
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He was Brazil's most tattooed man before deciding to remove the ink etched across a staggering 95 percent of his body.
Leandro de Souza has so far undergone two laser sessions as part of the process to eliminate over two decades worth of tattoos – the first coming as a young teenager.
The 35-year-old photographer, who lives in the Brazilian border city of Bagé next to Uruguay, made the decision to erase more than 170 tattoos after welcoming evangelicalism into his life.
'I did the first one when I was 13,' de Souza told Brazilian online news outlet G1. 'The first ones were very much about the idolatry of the time.'
Leandro de Souza's first tattoos were inspired by his love for Guns N' Roses, Nirvana and Metallica
Leandro de Souza decided to remove the tattoos from his body after visiting a shelter in the Brazilian city of Bagé following a battle with alcohol and drug abuse
An earlier photo of Leandro de Souza as he was on his way to tattooing 95 percent of his body
The tattoos were inspired by favorite rock banks of the moment – Nirvana, Guns N' Roses and Metallica.
De Souza's went down a dark path 10 years ago when he divorced his wife.
The fallout of splitting away from the mother of his 10-year-old son resulted in a nine-year period in which he dabbled with cocaine for the very first time and then in mixed ecstasy, LSD and booze.
'I couldn't stand the life I was living anymore,' he said. 'I was an attraction at (events I attended) and it felt like a circus animal.'
De Souza's found a new outlook on life when he visited a shelter, where he was introduced to evangelism.
'The first step in everything in life is to accept that you can't do it alone, that you are an addict, that you are a drug addict,' de Souza said.
'And I managed to do that, I entered the municipal shelter in Bagé. Within a week, there was a lady who referred me and started to evangelize me.'
Leandro de Souza has decided to remove the tattoos that cover 95 percent of his body
Leandro de Souza was mired in a battle with drugs and alcohol dependency after he divorced his wife 10 years ago and turned his life around after visiting a local shelter, where he was introduced to evangelicalism
De Souza converted the religion two years ago, preaching to 'parents and children in homes that are in prisons.'
A tattoo studio in Franco da Rocha, São Paulo heard of how de Souza turned around his life – on April 14 he celebrated his birthday as well as being one year free of drug and cigarette use. He has gone more than three years without having an alcoholic beverage.
De Souza still has to undergo six more sessions, which are scheduled every three months and last 30 to 40 minutes.
'It hurts a lot more than doing it,' he said. 'It hurts three times more than doing it. Even with anesthesia, the process is very painful.'
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