Under The Gun: Jaie Toohey

For this installment of Under the Gun, we caught up with BMXer Jaie Toohey to have him explain the tattoo of a kookaburra within his sleeve.

“I was wanted to get tattoos, and I always wanted to get this bird, it’s called a kookaburra,” Toohey explained. “It’s an Australian bird. Pretty much, my nan [grandma] died a few years ago, and every morning she would wake up and this bird would be on her front porch. She would feed it and stuff.

“When my nan died, at the funeral, as she was getting buried, the kookaburra turned up on a tree and started making noises right there. Pretty much from that day on, I wanted to get this bird somewhere big, but I just couldn’t really figure it out. It fitted in right there, and I just got it done.

“All my tattoos — I’ve got my sleeve done and my back done — Brian Lee, he lives in Greenville, N.C., and he’s the only person I let do all my tattoos. I trust him, and he’ll always do my tattoos from now on.

“I started working on the sleeve last year in May, and got it finished up in November, just before I went back to Australia. I always just wanted a sleeve. I wanted to do a real big poker theme and then it just ended up into a half-Australian, half-poker theme. It all fits in, it’s got the kangaroo and the Australian flag. It was supposed to be an all poker theme, then it just turned into pretty much whatever. Whenever I’ve got nothing to do, I’m just sitting around playing poker with friends and it’s always fun.”

Missed the last installment of Under the Gun with BMXer Alistair Whitton? Check it out.