When New Zealand airbrush artist Benjamin Lloyd posted two photos to his Facebook page on May 22, nothing could have prepared him for the response he received.
Asking for just fifty likes, he promised he would attend Auckland's Starship Hospital to give sick kids airbrushed temporary tattoos to boost their confidence and offer a distraction from the challenges of being sick in hospital.
![Benjamin Lloyd airbrushes a tattoo on a young boy.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170725112226im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/u/3/6/n/p/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gu36qa.png/1485924931651.jpg)
Now with more than 402,000 likes and 216,00 Facebook shares, Lloyd has more than met his quota and will be off to the hospital to fulfil his promise.
The gesture has been praised, with parents, family members and young people who have spent a lot of time in hospital showing their support for the initiative.
"This is fantastic! My 8 yr old son is a 5-yr cancer survivor and he would've LOVED this," Heidi Turner Fulton wrote. "Anything to brighten the days of the kids there is a blessing. Trust me, I know."
Grace Shockey added: "Tattoos give me control over my body that I don't often get thanks to various illnesses and diseases."
An accompanying video that has been viewed more than 100,000 times shows Lloyd applying the airbrushed custom tattoo.
It was relatively quick to apply using non-toxic, temporary ink, so he said he can give tattoos to as many kids that want them when he visits the hospital.
"I painted this young man in 9 minutes so I promise no kid at Starship will go without," he wrote.
Lloyd told New Zealand's TVNZ that kids' faces light up when they see the artwork on their bodies.
"It's just illuminating in their face. They're blown away." he said.
Lloyd has a personal connection to making kids' days brighter.
He started airbrushing several years ago on his stepson Lincoln, who then passed away suddenly.
The artist became emotional when he talked about it.
"It really made just made me realise how much it makes children happy and boosts their confidence," he said.
"So I thought, why not go to Starship."
This story was originally published in May 2016.