Tattoo tribute makes them brothers in arms
18.05.12
A Christchurch man will carry a permanent memorial on his arm for his tattoo artist friend who died in the February 22 quake.
Matt Parkin, the co-owner of Southern Ink, yesterday started work on a tattoo for Sebastian Williams, in memory their friend, Matthew (Matti) Mceachen, who once worked at the Colombo St studio.
Parkin had tattooed a lotus on Mceachen's left arm.
Williams wanted a duplicate, including the dates of Mceachen's birth and death.
"To me it [the lotus] represented him so well. The way lotuses grow from the bottom of the pond all the way to the surface to bloom into these wonderful wonderful flowers. It [Mceachen's death] was quite devastating. For such a small dude, he was really big."
On February 22, Southern Ink was destroyed and Mceachen was crushed by falling masonry when he tried to flee the building.
The studio has reopened on Main South Rd in Hornby.
Parkin was also in the building that day.
He recognised Mceachen, his apprentice at the time, by his clothes, which they had discussed earlier that day.
Source: Stuff.co.nz