17 October,2015 08:30 AM IST | | Agencies
Ted Richards from UK, who had his face and eyeballs tattooed to look like his pet parrots, has gone a step further by cutting off his ears
Ted Richards from UK, who had his face and eyeballs tattooed to look like his pet parrots, has gone a step further by cutting off his ears
Bristol: A man from Bristol has undergone surgery to remove both ears in order to look more like his pet parrots. Ted Richards, who has already had his face and eyeballs tattooed to resemble his birds, had his ears removed in a six-hour operation.
Parrot man: Richards is obsessed by feathered pets Ellie, Teaka, Timneh, Jake and Bubi, and has his face tattooed with colourful feathers in a tribute. Pic/Facebook
He said, "I've done it because I want to look like my parrots as much as possible. I think it looks really great. I am so happy it's unreal. I can't stop looking in the mirror."
Mad obsession
The 56-year-old is obsessed by feathered pets Ellie, Teaka, Timneh, Jake and Bubi, and has his face tattooed with colourful feathers in tribute. He also sports 110 tattoos, 50 piercings and a split tongue. He has even given his severed ears to a friend who "will appreciate them" and is now planning to find a surgeon prepared to turn his nose into a beak.
'Happier than ever''
Richards is not revealing the name of the surgeon, who carried out the controversial operation, but insists he is "happier than ever," and has even now got himself a girlfriend, Suzannah, 31.
The only issue following the surgery has been difficulty keeping his glasses in place, so he has opted to have two small metal pins added to the side of his head.
"There's no doubt that when they made me, they broke the mould. But, I love the fact that I'm unique and I have always wanted to be different," he added.
Tribute to the birds
He said that his facial transformation is a tribute to his "babies" - Ellie, a green winged macaw, and Teaka, a harlequin macaw. He shares his home in Hartcliffe, Bristol with his four parrots, as well as South American green iguana Iggy, and pitbull terrier Candy. Ted, a retired shoe factory worker, got his first tattoo in 1976. He has also had a peace sign branded on his left shoulder with a 750 degrees centigrade hot iron and two magnets implanted in his hands.
