On one table in Vernon’s Five Fathoms Tattoo lay Fred Sanders of Vernon, on his stomach, receiving a celestial eye on his calf from Vancouver tattoo artist Chris Stiles.
Right beside him on another table, laying on his back, was Sanders’ son, Will, from Vernon, receiving a dragoon from artist Rob Jobe of Salmon Arm on his right arm.
In the front portion of the shop, located on 30th Street, Will’s wife, Cydney, was on her back watching Victoria tattoo artist Angie Di Fran work on an anatomical heart.
Two other members of the Sanders family were on tables getting inked.
The family was at Five Fathoms Tattoo Sunday to support, for the second time, the Flashpoint Fundraiser.
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“We were here two years ago as a family,” said Cydney, comfortably relaxed as Di Fran completed the heart tattoo. “This is such a great cause.”
The event started at 8:45 a.m., featured a lineup around the block on 32nd Street, and, as of 11 a.m., 180 people had signed up to get a tattoo. You had to be 18 and with proper identification, and a minimum donation of $50. All proceeds from the fundraiser go to B.C. Children’s Hospital.
A total of 25 of Western Canada’s finest tattooers supported the event, donating their time and talent. Each artist brings a hand-painted sheet of pre-designed tattoos made specifically for the fundraiser.
Event founder Nick Matovich of Five Fathoms Tattoo started the event in 2013 in support of Children’s Hospital, where his daughter, Nova, now seven, had three open heart surgeries. Nova has a rare congenital heart defect known as Hypo-plastic Left Heart Syndrome, a condition that inhibits the development of the left side of the heart while in the womb.
The fundraiser is held every two years. Since its inception, events have raised $16,000, $26,000 and $27,163 at the last one in 2017.
The event will finish after midnight on Monday, May 20.
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