Chris Aument, a 41-year-old Seabrook resident, is having a tattoo on his right bicep removed. He had two laser treatments 14 years ago, but then moved out of state and didn’t complete the treatment. Now that he’s back, he’s had one additional treatment with Dr. Paul Fortes, and has “one or two” more to go. He recently talked to writer Kim Morgan about his experience.
Talk about your tattoo.
I got it in 1985 when I was a paratrooper with the 82nd Airborne. It’s a skull wearing a beret, with wings, and a parachute, and “Airborne” written across the top. It’s pretty big, about an inch and a half wide, and an inch tall.
Why are you removing it?
It’s not that I’m not proud of my military service. It’s that I’m not in the service anymore. I don’t like to talk about it. When I wore short-sleeve shirts and people would ask about it, I would say ‘It’s a military tattoo,’ and that invited more questions.
Did you think you might not want it later?
No, I thought I would keep it forever.
How has its appearance changed from laser treatment?
With two treatments, it faded a lot. It looked like I had a bruise on my arm. So instead of people asking me about my military career, they asked me how I hurt myself. Now, with just one more (treatment) it’s almost completely gone.
Does laser treatment hurt?
It hurts about as much as getting the tattoo.
Would you get another tattoo?
I do have a second one, it’s on my right shoulder blade. It’s a black panther head with a red Indian tribal banner. Who knows, 15 years from now I might want that one off too. But there’s a match to this one. I would like to get it, the wolf head, on my other shoulder blade.