An American tourist has gone viral on Reddit after sharing a tattoo that honours his life-changing visit to Aotearoa.
The San Diego-based man posted a pic of his freshly inked koru design, explaining that he and his wife spent a couple of weeks travelling around New Zealand just a month after he’d suffered a major heart attack.
“I required CPR to bring me back,” he wrote. “The beauty of the country and our realisation that life is way too short inspired me to get this tattoo.”
The design took about two and a half hours to ink. The koru is widely known for its meaning of new beginnings, and that’s exactly what it represents for this man.
“It’s a reminder for me to not squander my second chance and to keep working at recovery,” he added.
“Your country is beautiful and inspiring.”
The wholesome post quickly gained praise and messages of well-wishes from Kiwis.
“The artist did a great job,” one person wrote. “It looks so good, and [I] love the meaning behind it.”
Another said: “Very happy that you felt welcome in NZ and you wanted to honour your time here. It’s ātaahua (beautiful)...”
“I’ve seen hundreds (at least) of koru tattoos, but that is the nicest drawn one I can remember,” added a third.
Interestingly, the tattoo was actually done by Holly Ennis, an artist in San Diego, who managed to capture the concept despite being so far from its origins.
It's a far cry from the story of the last American tourist that got a lot of attention on the NZ subreddit. Earlier this year, an unnamed man placed a US flag at the top of Mount Maunganui, copping backlash for littering in a culturally significant site", as one commenter put it.
