REALITY TV star Kirk Norcross has paid a tribute to his East Lancashire-born father who tragically took his own life last year.
The former The Only Way is Essex (TOWIE) star now has a tattoo in memory of Haslingden-born and Blackburn-raised Mick Norcross, who was found dead last January.
In an Instagram post, Kirk shared a picture of his anchor tattoo to his 166,000 followers.
In the middle of the anchor is the word ‘Dad’ followed by the date ‘21-1-21’, which is the the day Norcross took his own life.
Captioning the post, Kirk said: “For you dad! You are my anchor.
"You keep me still during the roughest storms in life. Until we meet again, Dad, miss you.”
Kirk has been very open about the impact his father’s death has had upon him, revealing that he planned his own suicide and went on a cocaine binge while grieving.
Appearing on Loose Women earlier this year, Kirk even said he suffered from post-traumatic stress disortder (PTSD) flashbacks after finding his father’s body.
He said: “I have been diagnosed with PTSD so I have flashbacks of how I found my father.
“I don’t know if you have seen the war films where the soldiers have PTSD and you see the flashbacks of the gun fights – that’s how it is.
“I talk about it more now… if I have my flashbacks now I will call my friends.”
- READ MORE: TOWIE's Kirk Norcross to front charity after dad's suicide
- READ MORE: Kirk Norcross has PTSD flashbacks after Haslingden dad took own life
Kirk added that he tried to take his life “many years ago” after feeling like he “didn’t have a purpose” – but said this experience with his father has changed his perspective on life.
He said: “I’ve got to take a positive of what I’ve seen happen and the carnage that it has caused.
“No-one has to do that… to everyone that is watching this, you have survived 100 per cent of your bad days so why can’t you survive more of them?”
He has since been named as an ambassador for a suicide prevention charity, Papyrus.
Mick rose to fame as the owner of the Sugar Hut nightclub from the hit ITV series, The Only Way is Essex.
The 57-year-old first appeared in TOWIE in 2011 during the second series.
His mum and dad, Margaret and Bernard Norcross, both came from East Lancashire families, his maternal grandmother living at the house in Audley Range where iconic walking writer Alfred Wainwright grew up, and his paternal grandmother a few doors away.
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