- Thirty-five percent of Americans between 18 and 45 have 2 00:00:05,035 --> 00:00:07,868 at least one tattoo on their body.
Well upon your death, those tattoos are gone,
they're only permanent as long as you're alive
but then they're gone.
We've changed that world.
- [Narrator] So all of these tattoos used to be
on someone's body.
- [Artist] Yes, everyone of them.
- [Narrator] Charles Hamm has a lot of tattoos.
- I'm the Executive Director and Chairman of the Board
of the National Association for the Preservation
of Skin Art.
We call it NAPSA.
You know, I got all these beautiful tattoos
and I'm going to get cremated when I die,
and everything goes up in smoke.
So all the meaning, all the things that people know
about me that are close to me are gone as well.
- So Charles, which tattoo do I get?
- I can't tell you buddy.
Most of my upper body's claimed.
- [Narrator] So, why would anyone want
their tattoos cut off and hung on a wall
for posterity?
This is Shelly Krajny.
She's one of NAPSA's first members.
- I was really nervous, um, when I first got my tattoo done
to show my mom.
The first thing that she said when she saw it was that, like,
"It's so beautiful, I wish that I could like hang
that on my wall."
This is on my body forever.
Now, it can be part of someone else's story forever
thanks to NAPSA.
- [Narrator] Here's how it all works.
Within hours of a person's death,
NAPSA will mail a preservation kit
to their family.
The mortician will then cut off
the tattooed skin and apply NAPSA's
embalming solution.
The tattoo is then mailed to NAPSA's headquarters
inside this office complex just outside
of Cleveland, Ohio.
This is where they finish processing the tattoo.
It's no longer skin now.
It has the look of leather but it feels
like parchment paper.
Finally, NAPSA sends the framed tattoo
to the beneficiary.
- Everybody thought I was crazy at first in my family
but they quickly came to realize this is a beautiful thing,
and they've claimed their tattoos.
I have a gorilla on my chest.
And gorillas are known for protecting
all their females in their group,
and my wife's name resides under that.
That's my way of saying that I'm protecting my wife.
This gorilla's overlooking her.
So upon my passing, that put in a frame,
sitting above a fireplace, will remind her of me
every time that she looks at it.
And that's really what this is about.