One New Jersey dad is showing his young son that scars can be a sign of strength — by tattooing his chest with the same marks his son has from surgery.
Eric Conklin and his wife, Cristina, welcomed their first child last fall. Eric says their love story “felt like a fairytale” — they quickly fell in love, had their dream wedding, and bought a home together.
He often thought, “We’re so lucky. How did I get this lucky?”
But things changed when, at 20 weeks pregnant, doctors told them their baby had a congenital heart defect called pulmonary atresia. In this condition, the pulmonary valve doesn’t form properly, which means blood cannot flow from the heart to the lungs. While safe during pregnancy, the baby would need medical help right after birth.
Their son, Bennett, was born on Oct. 7, 2024, and was rushed to the NICU at Mt. Sinai Hospital in New York City. At four days old, doctors placed a balloon in his pulmonary valve. Eric and Cristina couldn’t even hold him at first because he was intubated.
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Just days later, at 10 days old, Bennett went into sudden cardiac arrest. Cristina remembers the frightening moment: “Within 30 seconds, about 20 people were surrounding his bedside.” Doctors had to give chest compressions, and after he flatlined, the couple agreed to put their son on life support.
After six days on an ECMO machine, which kept his blood oxygenated, Bennett had his first open-heart surgery at two weeks old. It was successful, and he was able to come home just before Thanksgiving. Five months later, he had a second surgery, which also went well. Doctors expect he will need a third operation between ages three and five.
Through it all, Eric decided he wanted a tattoo of his son’s surgery scars.
“I want him as he grows up to look at me and say, Daddy looks the same. Daddy has what I have,” Eric explains. “It’s my way of showing him that I’m in this with him.”
On Aug. 26, nearly 11 months after Bennett’s birth, Eric got the tattoo across his chest. He already had one tattoo, a map of Italy on his arm for his great-grandfather, but he knew this next one had to be deeply meaningful.
Cristina admits it was heartbreaking to see their baby’s scars, but she loved Eric’s idea when he first mentioned it in the hospital.
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Recently, while swimming in Florida, Eric took off his shirt and said he finally felt complete. “It feels very good to look down and see it there,” he says.
For Eric, the tattoo represents not only Bennett’s scars but also the emotional scar their family carries. “That’s okay,” he says. “We’ll deal with the challenges of life, but we’ll deal with it together as a family.”
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Today, Bennett is thriving. Eric says he’s “a very, very happy baby” who smiles, giggles, laughs, and even sleeps through the night. Doctors are pleased with his progress, and Eric is proud that his son is “moving up the charts” in growth.
Looking back, Eric no longer thinks it was just luck. “The universe knew this special little boy was coming, and it set us up to be the ones who could take care of him,” he says.
