Woman Frames Husband’s Tattooed Skin After His Death to Preserve His Memory. She Was ‘Shocked’ by the Result

Angelica Radevski remembers her late husband as a man who loved sports — especially the Pittsburgh Steelers. “The radio or TV was always on ESPN,” she told PEOPLE.

Radevski, 35, is a nurse from Wheeling, West Virginia. She and her husband had been close friends for most of their lives — she even worked for his father at a local restaurant for 10 years. The couple had a son, now 10, and married in 2021.

“He was the kind of person who left a mark on you,” she said. “Even if you only met him once, you’d remember him as a loving, happy person.”

Her husband had tattoos covering him from his neck to his feet. Each one had personal meaning. “It was his therapy — his healing,” Radevski explained.

When he died unexpectedly earlier this year at age 55, she wanted to keep a part of him close. She remembered hearing as a child about a company called Save My Ink Forever, which preserves the tattooed skin of loved ones in a frame after death.

She had talked about the idea with her husband when he was alive, and he thought it was “really cool.” After the funeral, she outlined a Steelers helmet tattoo on his right arm — his favorite — so it could be preserved. The mortician removed the skin, placed it in a preservation kit, and sent it to the company before her husband was cremated.

About three months later, the tattoo came back framed in dark wood. “When I saw it, I was shocked — but in a good way,” she said. Her son Preston even noticed they could still see his dad’s hair on the skin. “I laughed,” she said. “He used to shave his arms for his tattoos but would miss spots. It felt like he was really home.”

Radevski began sharing her grieving journey on TikTok to connect with others who might feel alone. She also spoke about the financial hardship her family faced because her husband didn’t have life insurance, encouraging people to plan for the unexpected.

When she posted the framed tattoo online, the video went viral with nearly 30 million views. Some people made negative comments, but most responses were supportive, with many saying they wished they’d known this was possible.

Even rival football fans sent condolences — though some still joked, “I’m praying for you, but go Bengals.”

Radevski knows preserving a tattoo isn’t for everyone, but for her, it’s a comfort. “We feel him here spiritually, but this is something we can hold. It means so much more than a picture,” she said.