When choosing a tattoo, the best advice that experienced body art connoisseurs usually have — besides researching the best parlors in your area — is to make sure that what you get etched into your skin has some personal significance to you.
After all, the quiet comfort of seeing something that never fails to inspire or amuse you on your skin can be just as powerful as the regret that a bad tattoo can cause.
But for Back To The Future legend Michael J. Fox, “regret” is unlikely to be a word that crosses his mind when he thinks of his new tattoo.
The journey leading up to this tat’ is an inspiring story that’s filled with passion, dedication to those passions, and how one disease can change everything.
If you’re not familiar with him, here’s a little background on the man, the myth, the legend , Michael J. Fox, according to his website .
Michael was just a typical Canadian kid who wanted to pursue a professional hockey career growing up.
But during his formative years, he found a passion for acting that not only consumed him, but captivated viewers around the world.
However, in the midst of his career taking off, and reaching super-stardom, Michael was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease.
From that point on, Michael has taken pride in advocating and campaigning for increased research into the disease, and even put his budding career on the back burner to elevate his cause. His capacity for empathy and his connection to hope seems to have influenced his most recent venture.
On January 9, Fox received his very first tattoo at the age of 57.
According to Inked Magazine , he’s the latest in a long line of celebrities to seek out the renowned Bang Bang NYC parlor for his ink.
The work was completed by an artist known as Mr. K, who is celebrated for his line work.
Although Fox has Parkinson’s, which is known to cause muscle rigidity or tremors, it seems that the tattooing process went off without a hitch.
As the shop’s owner, Keith “Bang Bang” McCurdy, told Inked , how heavily Fox’s condition affects him depends on the day.
Fortunately, this happened to be a relatively light day.
Bang Bang also explained the personal significance of Fox’s tattoo, which Fox himself was a little more coy about.
It may seem like just a friendly sea turtle at first glance, but that chunk missing from one of its fins definitely suggests that there’s a story behind it.
As it turns out, there is and it concerns a real-life encounter that Fox had with a sea turtle.
As Bang Bang explained , Fox (not pictured) met the turtle while he was swimming in St. John. Like the one in his tattoo, that turtle had a chunk missing from its fin and a scarred face.
The turtle let Fox swim with it for about a half an hour, and he made an unspecified but “transcending” decision soon after that.
This experience not only stayed with Fox throughout his life, but apparently inspired a transformation in the way he made his career decisions.
Fox seemed pleased with how his tattoo turned out, but everybody at the parlor was just as excited to see him.
As Bang Bang said, “He signed a bunch of stuff, we took photos and he was great to us. He was really awesome and let us be fans for a moment.”
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Not only that, but he seemed to have some presents for Mr. K and Bang Bang.
Sharp-eyed readers likely noticed that Mr. K was holding a replica of the hover board Fox rode in Back To The Future Part 2 in that last picture, but that shoe might’ve looked familiar too.
That was a 2016 Nike Mag, which was modeled after the self-lacing shoes that also appeared in the movie.
According to the Michael J. Fox Foundation’s website , the shoes do actually self-lace and were able to raise $6.75 million in an online draw for Parkinson’s research when they first came out.
h/t: Inked Magazine
Michael isn’t the first or last celeb to permanently pen something meaningful on themselves.
Miley Cyrus is a well known animal lover and has commemorated her fallen friends with adorably touching portraits.
Justin Bieber has a lot of ink, but one in particular has a neat background.
The Biebs explain his reasoning in the photo’s caption, “I look back at a lot of things in my life, mistakes, insecurities, and although I have felt I’ve wasted a lot of time it also makes me want to be better faster! For me personally I want to work everyday to be BETTER AT 70.”
Lady Gaga has a handful of tattoos, but this one in particular honors her legacy.
Haus of Gaga is a team of visionaries that helped craft her signature style, and pushed her towards inevitable style guru royalty.
Sam Smith took to his ring finger and etched in an equal symbol.
In a series of photos about his four new tattoos, he wrote in a caption, “the equality sign on my wedding finger. This ones pretty self explanatory. It shows my views on gay marriage and equality for all x.”