Dad's touching tribute to son who died in backyard pool
Sage Pearman drowned in his next door neighbour's backyard pool in January.
The father of six-year-old Sage Pearman who died after drowning in a neighbour's backyard pool has paid tribute to his "beautiful" son by getting a portrait of his face tattooed onto his leg.
On Monday Andrew Pearman shared an image of the lifelike portrait online, describing the last month as "one of the darkest and hardest" for his family after his young son died metres away from their home in Lake Macquarie, NSW in January.
"[We are] still coming to grips with Sage's passing while having his birthday all within the same month," Andrew wrote alongside a photo of the tattoo. "There have been a lot of messages and gestures but we as a family are here without our baby boy and nothing can take that pain away."
Boy was left alone for only three minutes
The father and son were playing in the backyard of their family home when Andrew momentarily left to check on Sage's older brother, nine-year-old Braxton. When he returned minutes later, Sage had disappeared.
After frantically searching his home and calling the police, officers found Sage in the next door neighbour's backyard pool.
"That's when I saw on the grass they were doing CPR on him... I tried to sprint towards him and was able to touch him for just a moment, then the police pulled me off and said they’d take me to the hospital," Andrew told NewsWire.
"From the back of the house, I just heard the most horrible scream – his mum was actually in so much shock she passed out."
Father offers 'heartfelt thanks' to tattoo artist for tribute
Andrew extended a "heartfelt thanks" to the tattoo artist for his "talent" and "kindness" while making the tribute come to life.
"The beautiful realism portrait of our beloved son that now graces my leg is a testament to your extraordinary talent and, more importantly, your compassionate heart," he wrote about Pat from 2012 Tattoo Company.
The family created a GoFundMe page after their son's death in the hope of raising money to go towards his funeral and memorial costs, with the fundraiser raising over $20,000.
"We would give anything in the world to have our baby boy back, we miss him every day," Andrew wrote.
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