A Valley business is working with a drug addiction treatment center to give recovering addicts a fresh start by deleting tattoos they no longer want to be associated with.
The Delete Tattoo Removal and Medical Spa has erased thousands of tattoos for those who have moved on from certain phases of their life. One of their newest clients is John Wigchert, a recovering addict and employee at the Crossroads Drug and Alcohol treatment center.
Wigchert was referred to Delete’s non-profit arm that works with clients like him to help them move on and have a ‘fresh start’ in life. It is something the recovering addict was excited about as he looked forward to his upcoming marriage.
Four years sober, Wigchert said he had spent a lot of time and effort to battle the internal demons that led him down the road toward addiction. Now, it was time for an external makeover. Over the years, Wigchert had inked his body with multiple tattoos that went down his arms, covered his chest, and went up his neck, and onto his face.
Some of the tattoos held special meaning for Wigchert, but he admitted several of them were acquired during the throes of addiction and had no real meaning. Those were the tattoos he hoped to get rid of. Some of them happened to be on his face.
Wigchert said he got his first tattoos at the age of 14, and he was ready to get rid of them. “There was no real thought process to them, it was something at the time that I thought was just cool,” said Wigchert. Now some of those tattoos are just burdensome reminders of a past he has left long behind. “It’s just a reminder of decisions I made you know, back in active addiction.
Desiree De La Fuente, a lead technician and medical professional at Delete was now taking on Wigchert as her latest client and working to remove his facial tattoos. Over the years De La Fuente said she had worked to remove hundreds of tattoos from grateful clients. She said she had seen it all. “They got Tweety bird at 20 years old, when they loved her. Now at 40, they just don’t need her there anymore. I’ve seen a lot of names of exes, wedding bands, and even misspelled words,” said De La Fuente.
Some of these tattoos, especially the larger and brighter ones could cost hundreds of dollars to remove, as they required multiple sessions. Delete’s non-profit arm was helping Wigchert erase his facial tattoos at no cost. It will take about 7 sessions to get rid of all of his tattoos.
Delete also works with cancer patients to help them get rid of radiation scars once they are done with treatment.
To check out a gallery of before and after photos by Delete tattoo removal technicians go to visit: https://www.deleteitnow.com/tattoo-removal-before-after-gallery/
