[View the story "Best friends get matching semicolon tattoos" on Storify ]Best friends get matching semicolon tattoos Storified by CMGNationalNews · Tue, Jul 26 2016 16:27:29
This story's about the best joke ive ever been a part of. It starts on this night in 2010; I got a call that my best friend had been stabbedgarth
My friend Scott, a strong and confident guy, spoke in a hushed & shaking voice. He said "I wanted to let you know Mike was stabbed in LA."garth
There was more to the conversation, but it's all a blur. All that I, in Seattle, could think was: my best friend is dying as we speak.garth
Mike was walking with a group of friends in Echo Park to the Short Stop, a wonderful dance spot, for a friend's birthday.garth
Short Stop had a line out the door, so the group decided to just walk back to the apartment they were at to continue partying there.garth
On the 2-block walk back to the apartment, a girl in the group screamed. She was in a struggle with a strange man who was trying to mug her.garth
The man held her with force and was trying to take her purse. My best friend Mike, at 5'8" 140 lbs, stepped in & tried to separate them.garth
After a struggle, Mike punched him. The man then lunged at Mike, and ran away. It took a few seconds for Mike to realize he'd been stabbed.garth
His favorite t-shirt was soon covered in blood from the wound, right below his left rib. He fell to the ground and was bleeding out.garth
After a few mins, an ambulance arrived and rushed him into emergency surgery at the hospital. They cut him open from sternum to bellybutton.garth
They found the knife had lacerated one of his kidneys and a section of his large intestine — both of which would have to be removed.garth
Upon hearing this, my other BFF Andy and I bought plane tickets to LA for two days from then. We needed to be with our best friend.garth
Before leaving, we contemplated what to bring him to show him we loved him. A card signed by all our friends? An ironic bag of kidney beans?garth
Then, Andy had possibly the greatest thought that's ever entered his head: tattoos. I called my tattooist, who got us in same-day.garth
We flew down & entered Mike's room in the ICU. Imagine your best friend, a dozen machines keeping him alive at his absolute most vulnerable.garth
He awoke a few minutes later, very groggy. I wanted to cry seeing him like this. We started light conversation with him in hushed tones.garth
After twenty or so minutes when Mike wasn't groggy, Andy and I looked at each other, nodded, and announced "Mike, we got something for you."garth
We lifted our shirts and revealed our gifts to him: bold, black tattoos of semicolons, placed in the exact spot he'd been stabbed.garth
He didn't get it at first, but we helped, "Well, since the part of your intestine you had removed was part of your colon, now you have a..."garth
You can connect the dots.garth
We all laughed and cried a little together, and told Mike how much we loved him. We left after a few hours, then flew home a few days later.garth
Mike has fully recovered with no lingering effects (save for being one kidney lighter) & they caught the assailant, who got a 13-yr sentencegarth
In 2014, Mike got his own tattoo. Our tatooist loved the story so much, he did it for free. Three semicolon BFFs. https://t.co/Od3NPkJGErgarth
I love you, Michael Gosselin. Please resist the urge to get stabbed again.garth
