Everly “Evie” Backe, now 4 years old, had her first open-heart surgery in August 2017, when she was only 3 days old.

The procedure was successful, but she required more procedures in the following months. In addition, Evie had two further operations before to her first birthday as a result of the severe congenital heart condition that she was born with.

Her family refers to the scarring on her chest, which is where she has the most significant scarring from the operations, as her “zipper.” Her father, Matt Backe, desired to have a scar like his daughter Evie’s so that the two of them might be “zipper friends.”

“My daddy got a tattoo like my zipper so that I don’t feel alone…and he wants to be special like me,” Evie added.

After Matt had told the rest of his family about his intention to get a tattoo, they decided to give him a gift voucher to a nearby tattoo shop as a surprise for Christmas. And after it was all said and done, both the father and the daughter felt that the tattoo had turned out just as they had hoped it would.

Matt expressed his happiness by saying, “It truly makes me pleased that they look the same.”

Lauren Backe, Evie’s mother, also decided to commemorate her daughters with a tattoo of their names; her daughter Evie’s initial was tattooed on one end of the EKG line on her forearm, and her son Jack’s initial was tattooed on the other end.

These days, Lauren and Matt volunteer their time to assist other families whose children have been born with congenital cardiac abnormalities. Lauren mentioned that it is essential to both her and her husband, Matt, to attempt to assist other CHD families.