British man removes ears in quest to look more like pet parrots

A man who has undergone multiple surgeries to look more like his pet parrots has recovered from his latest procedure, which involved cutting off his ears.

Ted Richards, who lives in the United Kingdom, with his pet parrots, Ellie, Teaka, Timneh, Jack and Bubi, has 110 tattoos, 50 piercings and a split tongue, news.com.au reported. The 56-year-old is planning his next procedure ,which would aim to make his nose resemble a beak.

“There’s no doubt that when they made me they broke the mold,” Richards told the news station. He began his journey in 1976 with his first tattoo, and he has since graduated to tattooing his face with colored feathers and whites of his eyes.

Richards said the procedure to remove his ears tool six hours, and he has begun dating a woman since recovering.

“I went to the supermarket the other day and I went in I said, ‘Blimey, it’s so windy out there; it blew my ears off,’ and everyone had a chuckle,” he told news.com.au.

“But seriously I love the fact that I’m unique, and I have always wanted to be different,” he said.

Richards told the news station he laughs off critics. He said the only negative comments he receives are those from people who also want the procedures performed but aren’t able to find a surgeon or from competing artists he didn’t have work done by.

“I know I’m going to get the white coat people coming around saying it’s completely illegal,” he told news.com.au. “They say we can’t do what we want to do to make us look like we want to. But my argument is what is stopping me going abroad and having cosmetic surgery done by an iffy surgeon, coming back here, having complications and getting the NHS to sort them out free of charge?”

Richards said he gave his ears to someone who will preserve them and put them on display.