A renowned tattooist to the stars from South Derbyshire has become the first ever to work inside a hospital by inking a victim of the Manchester bomb attack as part of an ITV programme.

Kevin Paul was asked to tattoo the iconic Manchester Bee onto the back of Martin Hibbert, who was left paralysed after the attack as he attended the Ariana Grande concert with his daughter at the Manchester Arena on May 22. A suicide bomber detonated a device in the foyer as the concert ended killing 23 and injuring 250.

Mr Paul, who grew up in Newhall and now lives in Melbourne, is famed for his inkings on stars such as singer Ed Sheeran and One Direction’s Harry Styles, as well as Burton’s very own Hollywood actor Paddy Considine.

Keeping his fans up to date, Mr Paul Tweeted: “So today I get to help one of the Manchester bombing survivors by coming to hospital and tattooing him. It’s an honour to be asked.”

Tattooist to the stars Kevin Paul

The artist was contacted by Mr Hibbert who was just 10 metres from bomber Salman Abedi when he detonated the device.

Kevin shared poignant pictures of his work with Martin, who 'died three times on the surgeon’s table' following the attack, and has now spoken about the experience.

Talking to The Sun Online, Mr Paul said: “Although no-one has ever done a tattoo in hospital before they bent over backwards to help, giving us a room to work in and moving Martin into position so I could work on his neck.

“Martin was a mess, he’s just privileged to be alive. His daughter is still alive, they’re happy they made it when it could have been so much worse.

“The hospital gave us clearance. Southport Hospital have been absolutely amazing. They arranged it all, they sorted a room to do it in. They would have done everything to make it happen. It’s been two or three weeks in the planning.

“I’ve tattooed Ed Sheeran’s chest – that was important – but this was massive. It was an honour to do it; he almost died.

“He was 10 metres from the bomb when it went off. He was still alive. And I was allowed to help him do this and start a new chapter in his life.

“This man is paralysed. He’ll never walk again. He is defying medical experts by being alive. So to be able to tattoo him – it’s without doubt the most important I’ve ever done. He wanted to pay me but there’s no way I would have taken money from him. It was an absolute honour.”

The football agent suffered 22 shrapnel wounds, one which went through his spinal cord leaving him confined to a wheelchair.

Despite everything he has gone through, Kevin said Martin managed to be upbeat.

He explained: “He went through a lot of grief and the most horrendous time. He was quite upbeat and happy despite what he’s been through.

Kevin Paul is famed for tattooing Ed Sheeran

“He told me he had died three times in hospital that night but he kept pulling through.”

Kevin was filmed giving Martin the tattoo for an hour long ITV special programme which follows the journey of some of the victims who survived the sickening attack.

Martin had the Manchester Bee tattooed onto his back along with the number 22.

Kevin explained: “It happened on the 22. He had 22 bolts in him. They moved him to specialist hospital on the 22nd. And his release date is going to be the 22nd.

“The tattoo is on his neck and right next to the scar left by the bolt that paralysed him, almost touching it.

“The number 22 keeps coming up all the time so we put a 22 in it as well.

“He took me around the hospital and I met others in his ward and to hear those stories is inspiring. When you see what people like that have gone through. They’ve gone through so much in their lives.

“Everyone else around him died. And he is still alive. He’s going to be an ambassador for anti terrorism now. They tried to take him down and they failed.”