Tiny, red apple tattoos mark Fort Myers woman's celebration of sobriety and hope
A little tattoo in the shape of an apple is a big deal to Amy Dimon.
It was also a big deal Sunday as Dimon's family, friends, coworkers and others flocked to Altered Tattoo Co., 15250 S. Tamiami Trail in south Fort Myers, to have that tiny bit of ink inscribed on their body.
"It means everything," Dimon said Sunday, standing outside the tattoo shop. "It's a surreal day. To have friends I haven't seen in 22 years who, you know, haven't seen the sober Amy ... its unbelievable."
All the ink and pain is for a good cause dreamed up by Dimon, 41, who is celebrating 11 years of sobriety from an opioid addiction and hopes to raise $10,000 for SalusCare in thanks for the treatment center's help in her recovery.
A challenge from her employer, Miami-based food supply company, Mr. Greens, to give $1,000 to any employee who got a company logo tattoo gave Dimon a much bigger idea.
She ultimately convinced Mr. Greens to donate $1,000 to SalusCare for each of up to 10 people who agree to have the company's logo — a red outline of an apple with a green leafy stem — tattooed on their body.
"She could have had $1,000, but she gave it up," said Margie Graf, Dimon's best friend — the two met three months after Dimon got sober in 2007. "I think it's kind of a big deal."
A tattoo artist for Altered Tattoo, Rob Plante, agreed to ink the logo free of charge. Those who didn't make it Sunday can get their tattoos between 12 and 8 p.m. on Thursday.
"It's a really great cause," Plante said. "SalusCare is a fantastic organization. Amy is one of my favorite people on the planet. As soon as she approached me about doing just 10 tattoos I couldn't say no to her. It just kind of steamrolled into what we have going on today."
Dimon posted her story on Facebook and asked people to step up. She said friends in Miami and other parts of the state quickly signed up.
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"Oh my gosh, I had no idea we were going to get this response," she said. "The response has just been crazy."
The money will specifically go to help sponsor one of SalusCare's signature fundraising events, the “Laughter Is the Best Medicine Comedy Night,” which will be held Aug. 18. The News-Press Media Group is one of the sponsors of the event.
Ronne Apicella, CFO for SalusCare, said the $10,000 sponsorship is the largest the organization has received in the four years of the event.
"This is amazing," Apicella said. She was so impressed with what Dimon had done that she lined up with a half-dozen others on Sunday and got the tattoo. "Its such a good cause and she's done such an amazing job."
Dimon became hooked on opioids at 14 after receiving prescription painkillers to treat chronic pain associated with what she now knows was Crohn's disease.
When she was in her early 20s, Dimon's mother found her in her driveway unconscious and barely alive after she overdosed on Xanax and methadone.
She spent 12 days in intensive care. But she continued abusing drugs until she was 30 when she finally committed to a treatment program.
"When I went in there, I had nothing. No money, no job, no shoes, no high school diploma, no care. Nothing," Dimon said. "They saved my life. It's not just stopping taking drugs and getting clean, it's a whole new way of living."
Today, she has a degree in computer information technology and is the general manager of the west coast division of Mr. Greens, which supplies restaurants, hotels and other food service providers.
A few weeks ago, she was asked by SalusCare CEO Stacey Cook to join the organization's development committee.
"It was just this huge moment for me," Dimon said. "You know, going from being a patient in there with nothing to, 11 years later, getting this message saying, 'We want you to help us.'"
Dimon was flabbergasted Sunday when Mr. Greens employees, former SalusCare clients and long-time friends from the east coast she had not seen since high school arrived to get a tattoo.
"I saw it on Amy's Facebook page," said Michael Kelly, 41, of Fort Pierce, an old family friend and Boca Raton high school pal. "It's like a big, ole family reunion." The two had not seen each other in 22 years.
"This is a reminder of the good things we can do," he said. "Not just for ourselves, but for everyone."
But the biggest tattoo placement came early on in the Sunday event when Dimon's 76-year-old mother, Sheila Dimon, was asked if she, too, was going to get tattooed.
"I'll get that," Dimon's mother blurted out all of a sudden, causing her daughter to shriek with surprise.
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