Ex-skinhead does racist tattoo removal of face after becoming a father

Bryon Widner calls himself a "former borderline sociopath" after spending his youth in a racist group in the US called Vinlanders Social Club, known to be extremely violent.

Byron became skin-head at 14 and from that time on he spent 16 years in racist organizations, co-founding Vinlanders. That's when she got her first tattoo and didn't stop, having her face full of them, which were clearly racist.

In 2005, Byron married Julie Larsen and a year later had their first child. Fatherhood made Byron want to leave the racist movement (as did his wife) and thereby erase every tattoo on his face.

With more than one tattoo, Byron found it difficult to fit into society, after all they were all flashy. "I was prepared to dip my face in acid, " he told the Associated Press.

That was when Julie, his wife, contacted Daryle Lamont Jenkins, an anti-racism activist, who introduced her to the Southern Poverty Law Center.

After many interviews, the SPLC agreed that Byron was sincere and wanted to return to live in society. So they found a surgeon and, with an anonymous $ 35, 000 donation, began the procedures for tattoo removal.

The removal took about a year and a half, and Byron's face was burned and blistered, but the former skinhead did not consider giving up, wanting to be an example to his son.

Today Byron's face has only scars, but nothing to imagine what it was. His story became a documentary called "Erasing Hate" as well as a movie called "Skin."