He was the most tattooed man in Brazil before he decided to remove the ink etched on a staggering 95 percent of his body.
Leandro de Souza has so far undergone two laser sessions as part of the process to remove more than two decades of tattoos, the first of which was when he was a young teenager.
The 35-year-old photographer, who lives in the Brazilian border town of Bagé, next to Uruguay, made the decision to remove more than 170 tattoos after welcoming evangelicalism into his life.
“I made my first one when I was 13,” de Souza told Brazilian online news outlet G1. “The first ones had a lot to do with 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 when he was preparing to tattoo 95 percent of his body.
The tattoos were inspired by the favorite rock bands of the moment: Nirvana, Guns N’ Roses and Metallica.
De Souza took a dark path 10 years ago when he divorced his wife.
The aftermath of separating from the mother of his 10-year-old son led to a nine-year period during which he first tried cocaine and then a mix of ecstasy, LSD and alcohol.
“I couldn’t stand the life I was leading anymore,” she said. “I was an attraction at the events I attended and I felt like a circus animal.”
De Souza found a new perspective on life when he visited a shelter, where he was introduced to evangelization.
“The first step in everything in life is to accept that you can’t do it alone, that you’re an addict, that you’re a drug addict,” Souza said.
“And I succeeded, I entered the municipal shelter in Bagé. Within a week, there was a lady who guided me and began to evangelize me.”
Leandro de Souza decided to remove the tattoos that cover 95 percent of his body
Leandro de Souza was struggling with drug and alcohol addiction after divorcing his wife 10 years ago and turned his life around after visiting a local shelter, where he was introduced to evangelicalism.
De Souza converted to religion two years ago, preaching to “parents and children in homes who are in prisons.”
A tattoo studio in Franco da Rocha, São Paulo, learned how De Souza changed his life: on April 14, he celebrated his birthday and also completed one year without using drugs or cigarettes. He has been sober for more than three years.
De Souza still has to undergo six more sessions, which are scheduled every three months and last between 30 and 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.”