People get tattoos for a host of reasons, whether it'd be a drunken mistake while on vacation with your friends, to remember a loved one, because you feel passionate about something in particular (such as a band), or simply because you like the design - the reasons and meanings are truly endless. For some people, however, tattoos can also be used to cover scars or a part of our body that we don't like.
This certainly seems to be the case for one very unique individual, who has covered 90 percent of his body in black ink and has now gone ahead and decided to undergo a procedure to have his genitals removed.
Adam Curlykale, 32, from Kaliningrad, Russia, began tattooing his body after he was diagnosed with colon cancer 12 years ago. Since then, Adam has near enough covered his entire body with black ink and even had his lips and eyeballs tattooed.
The 32-year-old also has albinism and says that he began tattooing himself due to the fact that he was feeling depressed by his pale skin.
After having 90 percent of his body covered in ink, Adam claims that his penis ruined his look so he decided to pay to undergo the extreme surgery.
Desperate to cover as much of his skin in black ink, Adam has no qualms tattooing himself in the most awkward (and painful) of places:
Taking to his Instagram account, where he has over 43,000 followers, Adam shared photos with his fans after having his penis, nipples, and testicles removed.
Adam originally hit the headlines back in 2017 after he took part in the TV show Second Face in Poland, where he said that he wanted the get extensive tattoos in order to cover the blemishes that were left behind by his cancer.
After eventually beating cancer, and while Adam was in recovery, he was left with a weakened immune system and felt depressed about the state of his body. The one thing that bothered him more than most, however, was his sickly and pale skin.
After being diagnosed with albinism, Adam decided to add tattoos to his body and quickly discovered that he had a passion for getting ink once he began to see the results.
He said: "I always knew that I was different from the rest of society. My favorite color, for example, has always has been grey, in different tones, and that’s why my current skin color is graphite."
Adam still has parts of his body which aren't tattooed, however, according to him, he is still planning on filling these up with ink as well. He said:
"I design my tattoos because it’s my body. I have a specific vision for myself and I do it step by step. Life is so short that I stopped wondering what will happen tomorrow. Life is here and now.’"
According to local media, Adam had to travel to Jardines Hospital in Guadalajara in Mexico to have the operation to remove his nipples and his private parts.
While Adam's look may be extreme and not to everyone's taste, but if it's helped him in his recovery from a life-threatening illness, who are we to judge? Besides, that granite skin alongside the white mustache makes him look like some sort of superhero/villain... or a negative of the Monopoly guy.
And like every great superhero, he does have a sidekick to accompany him on his modification adventures. Currently residing in London, Adam documents a lot of his time with his "friend" Veronica Blades (missxronix), who defines herself as "beyond gender" and "an alien".
Veronica and Adam often share pictures of their adventures around London together on their respective Instagram accounts, and she has also had several modification surgeries.
In the video below, she can be seen showing off the results of her latest rib removal and lipo to her followers:
However, both Adam and Veronica are now pledging to their followers for help.
Due to the fact 'nullification surgery' (which can have many different meanings, but for Adam, he wants to appear completely genderless) is illegal in the UK, Adam has set up a GoFundMe, and is looking for £5,000 in donations so that he can have corrections made to his previous surgeries.
Following the removal of his nipples, naval, and genitals, Adam has suffered from several health complications and has been left in "continuous pain".
Detailing his story, Adam writes:
"My name is Adam Curlykale.
I come from Poland. My body has been covered in 90% using a blackwork tattoo technique due to skin diseases after a colon cancer. I have always felt a nullo person, a person existing between male and female.
The first stage of my nullification transition was removal of my nipples and navel. 5 weeks ago in Mexico in Guadalajara I underwent a nullification surgery which means removal of genitals.
A very long return trip and a general weakness and fatigue after the surgery caused serious health complications: excessive bleeding during the surgery, gastroenteritis due to strong medications, throwing up bile, dissolvable stitches in urethral area split, anal hemorrhoids, being unable to urinate without a catheter (after 7 days a catheter had to be reinstalled again and this time I had to use a catheter for the next 3 weeks )."
"I live in London and so far my private medical costs have added up to several thousand pounds. I do not have any savings and my health condition is not improving. I still am throwing up on a daily basis and I am not able to sleep at all due to a sharp strong continuous pain and available painkillers are not working which can be a consequence of a colon cancer 9 years ago (that required chemo- and radiotherapy). At the moment I am being treated privately with steroids.
Please do not judge me. My whole life I have been struggling with my gender and the health consequences of cancer. I only want to be happy and feel good in my own body. (sic)"
Adam did manage to send out a video from his hospital bed thanking his fans and well-wishers:
It's sad to hear that Adam's need to change his body has left him in so much pain, but it does raise the question of how far somebody should be allowed to go when it comes to modification. We hope Adam is able to find the help he needs to bring him back to perfect health.
