We’ve all done things we’re not proud of in the past, made decisions we wish we hadn’t, and said things we would want to take back.
Yet I’m willing to wager very few of us have regrets so large and visible as Ethan ‘ModBoy’ Bramble, a body fanatic from Australia who covered his body with over 200 tattoos.
Expressing oneself through ink is common these days, while intricate, quirky tattoos appear to be all the rage. That said, there’s a limit to what most people are willing to pay to have put on themselves, and for most people that limit falls well short of what Ethan was ready to do.
As per reports, Ethan was just 11 years old when he decided to get his first ever body modification, which involved the stretching of his ears. Since then, he’s undergone all manner of procedures, including having his tongue split and his belly button removed.
It’s his tattoos that garner the most attention, however, and that’s hardly a surprise given that he’s covered head to toe. All told, Ethan revealed that he had spent around $60,000 AUD (roughly $39,000 UD) to look the way he does.
Now, though, he’s expressed some regret over his past choices.
“I guess you could say I regret some tattoos,” he told LadBibleTV’s No Filter series.
“Not just regret, I think there’s a difference between regret and wanting to be perceived differently.”
Ethan went on to say that he’s worried about the judgement he might face while performing certain daily tasks, such as taking his young daughter to school.
“The face is a big thing that can lead to so many – for some people, not everyone – can lead to a lot of problems for yourself, which I probably wouldn’t want my daughter to have to deal with until she was a bit older,” he said.
“I wish that I had not gone as hectic as I did on my face.”
In an attempt to clean up his image, Ethan’s been undergoing painful laser surgery treatment in a bid to reverse some of the ink he got when he was younger.
He explained: “I’ve been getting laser [surgery], or have been, for pretty much 12 months… We do it in sections, but I’ve probably gone over the full thing six or seven times.
“I started getting it done because of the anxiety and stuff I was getting… Mental stuff is a funny thing to pin down, but I want to think that a lot of the anxiety was from just having a face full of tattoos.
“I’m happy with the way that I look, but I’m also happy with the mentality that over the next two years, my face tattoos are going to become less and less and less. I’m just clearing the canvas.”
At twenty-four, his body told a story before he ever spoke. Ink covered nearly every inch of his skin, layered over years of choices made loudly and without apology. Faces, symbols, words, memories—nothing was left untouched. People stared first, judged second, and rarely looked any deeper. He had learned to live with that. The tattoos weren’t rebellion anymore. They were just part of who he was, until the moment he held his newborn daughter and felt something inside him shift.
Becoming a father didn’t arrive gently. It landed all at once, with weight and clarity. As he cradled her, wrapped in a thin hospital blanket, he saw himself through someone else’s future. Not as a man proving anything, but as a parent responsible for safety, opportunity, and example. He imagined playgrounds, school meetings, doctors’ offices, and all the unspoken assumptions that would follow him into every room. For the first time, the tattoos felt heavier than skin deep.
The decision wasn’t dramatic. There was no speech, no announcement. Just a quiet resolve. Tattoo removal is slow, painful, and expensive. Each session burns away pigment layer by layer, leaving swelling, scabs, and months of healing in between. He sat through it anyway. Over and over. What once took years to build couldn’t be undone quickly, and he accepted that. This wasn’t about instant change. It was about commitment.
Friends questioned him. Strangers mocked him. Some accused him of erasing himself. But he didn’t see it that way. He wasn’t deleting his past. He was choosing what his daughter would see when she looked up at him. Less shock. Less fear. Fewer barriers before people even listened. He wanted her to grow up watching doors open instead of close, and he understood that his appearance played a role in that reality.
Today, the transformation is startling. The ink that once dominated his face and body is largely gone, replaced by scarred skin and something calmer underneath. He looks like a different man, not because of what’s missing, but because of what’s present. His posture is softer. His expression steadier. The edge that once defined him has given way to focus. He didn’t become someone else. He became someone accountable.
The most powerful part of the story isn’t the before-and-after images. It’s the reason behind them. Love didn’t ask him to change. Responsibility did. He chose discomfort so his daughter could have ease. He chose pain so she could have possibility. And in doing so, he proved that real transformation isn’t about removing tattoos. It’s about deciding who matters more than your past.
What do you think about Ethan’s before and after look? Let us know in the comments!
