Woman has dead husband skinned so she can hang his tattoos on the wall
It's normal to hang onto the possessions of the dead. For those that are mourning, keeping a trinket, or something that was dear to your loved one, helps the grieving process - and serves as a reminder of all the memories you shared.
For one woman, however, this item is rather unconventional: Cheryl Wenzel will have her dead husband skinned so that she can hang his tattoos on the wall.
When 41-year-old tattoo artist Chris Wenzel discovered that he was going to die, he asked his partner, Cheryl, if his ink-adorned skin could be removed and preserved before he was laid to rest.
"I thought, that's different, but yeah, that's cool. I don't care what it takes I'm going to get this done for him," Cheryl said when speaking to The Globe and Mail. "You can hang a picture on a wall. A tattoo is something that has been done for hundreds of years. It's just preserving it."
Chris wanted Cheryl, his children and grandchildren to be able to admire the artwork for years after he had gone.
Per CTV Saskatoon, Chris had been diagnosed with ulcerative colitis - a condition which can cause a fast or irregular heartbeat. He died in his sleep in October after complaining of chest pains.
Cheryl was able to find a family business in the US which specialises in preserving the tattoos of the dead.
Kyle Sherwood, who runs the company with his father told CTV Saskatoon, "Tattoos, you know, tell a story about a person."
"And for someone to get something tattooed on them that they’re displaying for life, you know, means something to them. You wouldn’t burn or bury a Picasso and that’s what some of these pieces are."
Save My Ink Forever will spend around three months working on Chris's body - and the process, which requires surgery, is complicated. According to Kylie, this is the largest tattoo preservation to ever be done in North America.
The procedure, which costs an eye-watering £62,500, was partially raised through a GoFundMe campaign organised by Cheryl and Chris' family friends.
Chris owned and worked at Electric Underground Tattoo, and he completed his first artwork on his aunt when he was just nine-years-old.
His skin will be preserved in a frame, and it's expected to be shown at a spring tattoo expo in Saskatoon.
Chris was respected for his tattooing chops throughout the city. Fellow artist, Marc Whishart, told CTV Saskatoon, "If you know anybody in the city with a tattoo, it's probably one of his."
Cheryl, who has been tattooed by her late husband, said that she would also have her skin preserved, and that it would hang right alongside her husband'.