A tattoo artist has shared a special design created for a testicular cancer survivor, featuring a monkey "stealing a nut" – leaving social media users touched by the cheeky tribute.

Dean Gunther, 34, recently made headlines after revealing he gave a man a permanent pair of shoes, inking his feet with a pair of Nike trainers, because the customer wanted to save money on shopping for shoes.

Now, the artist, who is originally from Bellville, South Africa, but moved to the UK five years ago to open his own studio, (DG Tattoo Art in Greater Manchester) has shared his latest piece – and it's a testy topic.

Taking to Instagram, Dean uploaded a video of the unusual design to his 249,000 followers (@dean.gunther) in the hopes that it will inspire more men to check their nuts.

The clip, which has racked up over 14,400 views and 1,309 likes, features a man named Richard Tonge, a 38-year-old testicular cancer survivor who almost lost his life to the aggressive illness.

Dean traces a chimpanzee on Ric's thigh, saying: “I think more people need to be made aware of it. As men don’t talk about these things or go for check-ups.”

The stunning real-colour design took around seven hours to complete and was provided free of charge.

"I wanted a tattoo to represent what had happened," said Richard.

"I don’t tend to take life too [seriously and] what will be will be.

"I had ideas of a monkey or a squirrel pinching ‘my nut' and it became a bit of a joke.

"I'd seen Dean's work on Instagram and loved his realism.

"When we met, I told him about the cancer and having a testicle removed and that I wanted to inspire others to check their balls."

Richard himself first began noticing his symptoms in February 2018 but at first dismissed them.

He said: “I had felt what was like a lump on my right testicle, I showed it to my partner, Kayleigh, and she told me it needed looking at.

"I left it 2-3 weeks and she asked me if I had spoken to the doctor.

"I put it off and just got on with life. Then, one night in March 2018, I had proper pain in the testicles that wouldn't go away.

"I drove myself to the hospital and that's when I received the news that it was cancer. I had surgery that same night."

The surgery was a success but the doctors had been forced to remove one of Richard's testicles, and he was also told he needed a 10-year care plan.

He said: "I think at first the feeling [of] more shock and almost like you're not a complete man anymore. [You start thinking] will it look weird when it heals?

"Because you can't touch or feel from the surgery due to the bandage.

"[You wonder] will it feel weird or sit funny with just one?"

"When i went back to the specialist a few weeks later they said there was the option of a prosthetic testicle if I wanted to be considered one in the future, but once the pain and swelling had gone down I wasn't [actually that] bothered."

Four years later, Richard is cancer-free.

The experience has given him a new perspective on life.

Since then, he has tied the knot with Kayleigh and recently celebrated the birth of their fourth child, a baby boy named Teddy.

He is also sharing his story to help others.

Richard said: "There’s nothing to be scared of checking for lumps.

"It's better to do it regularly.

"The worst thing you can  do is leave it because it could get worse.

"If I hadn't been in so much pain, I may have left it even longer myself and I dread to think what the outcome could have been."

Dean feels honoured to have taken a part in Richard's journey with the unique tattoo.

He added: "People absolutely love it, especially the meaning behind it and some people even mentioned they had gone through the same diagnosis and experience of testicular cancer.

"A woman also commented saying this is such a clever idea and her husband suffered the same thing.

"People think it's great to bring more awareness to this."

Instagram users certainly loved the message behind the cheeky inking with many sharing their own cancer stories.

A tattoo artist has shared a special design created for a testicular cancer survivor, featuring a monkey "stealing a nut" – leaving social media users touched by the cheeky tribute.

Dean Gunther, 34, recently made headlines after revealing he gave a man a permanent pair of shoes, inking his feet with a pair of Nike trainers, because the customer wanted to save money on shopping for shoes.

Now, the artist, who is originally from Bellville, South Africa, but moved to the UK five years ago to open his own studio, (DG Tattoo Art in Greater Manchester) has shared his latest piece – and it's a testy topic.

Taking to Instagram, Dean uploaded a video of the unusual design to his 249,000 followers (@dean.gunther) in the hopes that it will inspire more men to check their nuts.

The clip, which has racked up over 14,400 views and 1,309 likes, features a man named Richard Tonge, a 38-year-old testicular cancer survivor who almost lost his life to the aggressive illness.

Dean traces a chimpanzee on Ric's thigh, saying: “I think more people need to be made aware of it. As men don’t talk about these things or go for check-ups.”

The stunning real-colour design took around seven hours to complete and was provided free of charge.

"I wanted a tattoo to represent what had happened," Richard told NeedToKnow.online.

"I don’t tend to take life too [seriously and] what will be will be.

"I had ideas of a monkey or a squirrel pinching ‘my nut' and it became a bit of a joke.

"I'd seen Dean's work on Instagram and loved his realism.

"When we met, I told him about the cancer and having a t*sticle removed and that I wanted to inspire others to check their b*lls."

Richard himself first began noticing his symptoms in February 2018 but at first dismissed them.

He said: “I had felt what was like a lump on my right t*sticle, I showed it to my partner, Kayleigh, and she told me it needed looking at.

"I left it 2-3 weeks and she asked me if I had spoken to the doctor.

"I put it off and just got on with life. Then, one night in March 2018, I had proper pain in the t*sticles that wouldn't go away.

"I drove myself to the hospital and that's when I received the news that it was cancer. I had surgery that same night."

The surgery was a success but the doctors had been forced to remove one of Richard's t*sticles, and he was also told he needed a 10-year care plan.

He said: "I think at first the feeling [of] more shock and almost like you're not a complete man anymore. [You start thinking] will it look weird when it heals?

"Because you can't touch or feel from the surgery due to the bandage.

"[You wonder] will it feel weird or sit funny with just one?"

"When i went back to the specialist a few weeks later they said there was the option of a prosthetic t*sticle if I wanted to be considered one in the future, but once the pain and swelling had gone down I wasn't [actually that] bothered."

Four years later, Richard is cancer-free.

The experience has given him a new perspective on life.

Since then, he has tied the knot with Kayleigh and recently celebrated the birth of their fourth child, a baby boy named Teddy.

He is also sharing his story to help others.

Richard said: "There’s nothing to be scared of checking for lumps.

"It's better to do it regularly.

"The worst thing you can  do is leave it because it could get worse.

"If I hadn't been in so much pain, I may have left it even longer myself and I dread to think what the outcome could have been."

Dean feels honoured to have taken a part in Richard's journey with the unique tattoo.

He added: "People absolutely love it, especially the meaning behind it and some people even mentioned they had gone through the same diagnosis and experience of testicular cancer.

"A woman also commented saying this is such a clever idea and her husband suffered the same thing.

"People think it's great to bring more awareness to this."

Instagram users certainly loved the message behind the cheeky inking with many sharing their own cancer stories.

"Mega tattoo with a mega message," said one user.

"Great way to raise awareness for men," said another user.

"Always remember to check your [b*lls] it may save your life it did mine," commented one user.

"Absolutely love this. F*** cancer," added another user.

"I need to show my husband this. He has been through the same. As he is ginger I said about a ginger nut biscuit incorporated somehow. This is far better. I’ll up my game," said one user.

Dean's work has won numerous awards including Best of Show at the Portsmouth Tattoo Extravaganza 2018, Best Leg Piece at Titanic Belfast 2019, 2nd Best Realism in Rome's Urban Land Tattoo Convention, Best of Show at Buckley 2021 UK and most recently Best of Show at the Liverpool Tattoo Convention 2022.

He hopes to continue providing tattoos to raise awareness of cancer, as well as tattoos for amputees and those wishing to have scars tattooed.

ENDS

EDITOR'S NOTE: DIGITAL PRESS MUST INCLUDE A HYPERLINK TO: https://www.instagram.com/dean.gunther/