Cork student pays tribute to Toy Show star with touching 'hug for you' tattoo

Cian Power said Adam King had 'more wisdom and more guidance than any other politician, any other stakeholder or any other person I have met'

Cian Power from Cork paid tribute to six-year-old Toy Show star, Adam King, with a 'hug for you' tattoo. Picture: CiandePaor/Twitter

A man in Cork has paid tribute to one of the stars of last year's Late Late Toy Show, who warmed the hearts of the nation with a virtual hug.

Cian Power, a master's student at University College Cork, was so inspired by six-year-old Adam King's "words of wisdom", he got a tattoo of the Cork boy's drawing of a virtual hug.

During the second lockdown, Cian said everyone's spirits were low and Adam provided the nation with a much-needed lift.

"I think a lot of people had a bit of dread, a lot of long nights and then I remember watching the Toy Show and Adam was on the TV," Cian told Ryan Tubridy on RTÉ Radio One.

"Be hopeful, have dreams, you can do whatever you want to do – I think it was possibly the best reminder I could get at that time," he said.

He had more wisdom and more guidance than any other politician, any other stakeholder or any other person I have met.

Cian, who got his virtual hug tattooed on himself yesterday in Cork studio Art Lab, said he wanted to remember the struggles he and many others faced during the pandemic, but also that he has become a better person because of them.  

"When all this is done and over, I don’t want to forget the struggles or the losses or the development I had as a person, which will ground me as a better person and I think his message, even though it was a social distance hug, meant so much to me and other people.

"I just wanted to pay tribute to Adam and that his words meant so much to me and others and this is the only way I can express it.

"Whenever I do need it, it will be there as a message.

"His outlook on life is something that everybody should have, even a grain of, to go forward and people will be better people," Cian said.

Adam King has been spreading virtual hugs since he first appeared on the Toy Show last year. Picture: Andres Poveda

Last month, Adam King was honoured for his bravery and kindness with the inaugural Lord Mayor of Dublin Youth Award.

The award recognises children aged between five and 18 for “extraordinary work and resilience."

In a tweet to Adam’s 17,700 fans on Twitter, Adam’s dad David said the family were “humbled and delighted” at the recognition.

“Thank you so much to the Lord Mayor of Dublin for this honour.

“Adam and our family take great joy in spreading hugs around the world, for this to be acknowledged really means a lot," he tweeted.

Adam, who was born with a disease that causes brittle bones, went on to sell ‘Hug For You’ charity cards for Valentine’s Day and St Patrick’s Day and has raised more than €250,000 for CHI Temple Street and Cork University Hospital Charity.