Tonight on 20/20 ` It's a year since we met little Eva and her mum Tiff. Last year was a hard year. This year's been a 10 times harder year. We've been with Eva through the highs and lows of the past 12 months, and we were there when she turned 5. To have five years is` There's no word for it, you know. I wish I could have 50, but I'll take five. Plus what happens when the bully at school is the teacher? There will be nothing you can ever, ever, ever, ever, ever do. We go inside the cruellest classrooms. And would you get your face tattooed for money? Billy now has 22 tattoos on his face. For some, he was paid as little as $800. Kia ora. I'm Sonya Wilson. Thousands of you were touched by our story on young Eva Mitchell last year ` her mother Tiff's courage and wee Eva's incredible bravery. It was a story of hope. Against all odds, Tiff was unshakeable in her belief that her baby girl would make it to 5. So we thought we'd be alongside the Mitchells to mark that miracle milestone as it happened. It almost didn't. Eva's had a tough time this year ` tougher than anyone expected, including her mum, who faces the cruel reality of having one of the sickest kids in the country. Here's Hannah Ockelford with Eva and her family. GENTLE PIANO MUSIC Come here, babe. Ooh! Ooh! From the grit of the sand... (LAUGHS) ...to the warmth of the sun, Here comes another wave. Here it comes. Here it comes. Whee! each texture, each moment is new to Eva Mitchell. Do you want to put your feet in? Do you want to put your feet in? No. Do you want to put your feet in? No. Look. Just a little wet. (GASPS) Whoo. Just watching her, her reactions kind of makes my chest a little bit tight. ...feeling its light. To Eva the sand feels dirty; Eva. the water ` less than inviting. It's extraordinary when you consider she's a K kid, but not so when you know how extraordinary Eva truly is. Stop here just for one minute. Oh, beautiful! > Are these experiences kind of bittersweet for you? Definitely. You watch them, and your heart squeezes because you're so pleased that she's getting to do it and because she's not laying in a hospital bed. She's up doing it. WAVES CRASH Only Eva's mum, Tiff, will see the exhaustion and the pain that Eva will experience back in her hospital bed tonight. It's the consequence of a rare taste of freedom. She's so brave. She's so brave. And I think sometimes it's frustrating that she is so resilient and so brave that she runs around looking like this amazing ` and she is amazing ` you know, beautiful, nearly normal little girl. And people think, 'Oh, why is she in hospital? Oh, she's fine.' And actually, this little girl goes through masses and is actually in pain a lot of her life. POIGNANT MUSIC Eva was born with a hole in her diaphragm that left her internal organs underdeveloped. No one expected she'd survive past birth. One was going that way; one was going that way. But so far, this little fighter has beaten every odd and outlasted every medical prediction. That is something that I think about quite often. Is it better to know you've got four weeks and know 100%, or is it better to not know and` and wait for the unexpected? SINGS: # Mr Golden Sun, please shine down on, please shine down on me. # Eva has chronic lung disease. Her bowel and stomach don't work, and she's fed through a tube. Some of her bugs that she carries now, antibiotics don't work for. So` So what happens when that gets into her heart line? There's nothing they can do. Her health is so fragile that she lives every day and every night in hospital. I feel like I'm constantly on guard to protect my little girl from` from things going wrong because now when things go wrong, the impact could be heaps bigger. What did you get sent? Lipstick? Just lipstick. Just lipstick. Yeah? Just lipstick. Yeah? Just lipstick and a ring. I've known Eva nearly two years. Should we put white on first? Should we put white on first? < Yeah. It was only after she turned 4 that Tiff dared to dream her baby might turn 5. (GROANS, WHINES) But 2012 couldn't have had a worse start. Beginning of this year, Eva got really sick, and we could see she was getting sicker and sicker. Nobody really knew what was wrong. Eva had blockages inside her vital organs, causing life-threatening complications. I had weeks of no sleep. No sleep ` constantly by this little girl getting sicker, stuck in a room. Sicker and sicker. All her nursing team were, you know, upset and worried about her, and, um, when she finally, you know, was pushed over the edge and totally broken and they were working on her, they took us out of the room. MONITOR BEEPS SLOWLY Tiff realised Eva might not make it. I was actually like a crazy person. I can't even remember it. Apparently, they had to pin me against a wall. I was crazy, screaming, 'Help my baby.' CRIES: Oh my tummy's sore. After months in intensive care, the high-dependency unit and in isolation, Eva once again pulled through. That was only the first of the year's setbacks. Sorry, Mum. We've had a transplant team come over from overseas and, um, look at her ` something we'd waited years for ` to find out someone who might have an answer for Eva. SINGS: # Like a baby... # All hopes for a cure were pinned on this international team. But they've said no. Eva would never survive a transplant. There is no magic cure. There is no magic way of helping her. Where does that leave you? Where does that leave you? I've been told... (EMOTIONALLY) many times that, you know` that maybe there's not as much hope as what we had. But, um, I still have lots of hope for her, because, um, you know, you can't give up. She's proven everyone wrong over and over again. I still have hope that Eva's life will, however long, be amazing. OWL CITY AND CARLY RAE JEPSEN'S 'GOOD TIME' So this year, Eva's done things she's never done before. TRUCK ALARM BEEPS Where'd you wanna go, Eva? Where'd you wanna go, Eva? Round the block. Where'd you wanna go, Eva? Round the block. Round the block? OK. I hope you don't squirt the cameraman. As hard as you can. Ready? Whoa. This little kid lived in hospital for four years ` her whole life. She didn't know until, like, a year ago that you put petrol in a car at a petrol station. # It's always a good time. # It's insane what she misses out on. GENTLE MUSIC It's one thing for Tiff to come to terms with this cruel reality... Let's put all the same colours together. OK, Mum? ...but another to accept what it means for her other daughter, 7-year-old Mela ` Eva's big sister and best friend. I was looking for my keys yesterday. When I got back, they were in bed cuddling. Mela was getting Eva off to sleep. They're best, best friends, and she's used to looking after her. So that's probably the thing that really really worries me. This is Mela. And this is Eva. Mostly, Mela's with Tiff and Eva in hospital. That's because the girls' dad has had to keep working in their hometown out of Auckland. Hello, sweetheart. How are you? And with Eva so sick, Tiff and Joel have for years now been living highly stressful and separate lives. Both the girls are really close to Joel. He loves his little girls, and he's a really good dad to them. They see him every weekend. How's your relationship with Joel? I think we actually did really well for the first, you know, few years. Statistics are really really against people in a relationship when they have a sick child. Against them too. Their marriage has come to an end. We're parents of a sick little girl. We're both really damaged, and two damaged people can't do it together when you've got two little girls to look after. GENTLE MUSIC < Oh wow! While this year's been punctuated by bad news and loads of pain, it's also seen Eva achieve the near on miraculous. She's precious, and suddenly, I sit there and think, '5 years. I was told this little girl wasn't going to ever live. I wasn't gonna hold her.' So, you know, to` to have five years is` There's no words for it, you know. I wish I could have 50, but I'll take five, totally. As it is every year, Eva's birthday is inside Starship Children's Hospital and always with her favourite people. ALL SING: # Happy birthday, dear Eva. Happy birthday to you. # ALL CHEER Have you dared to think about next year? EMOTIONALLY: Um,... kind of. This year's been a hard, hard year. Um,... last year was a hard year. This year's been a... 10 times harder year. So, um, to go into next year, all I've thought is, 'Hopefully it's a better year,' you know. I'm aiming for 6 for her. I'll aim for 7, but, you know, reality isn't always, you know, a kind thing. PENSIVE MUSIC But for as long as Eva's with us, Tiff and her family's lives will revolve around keeping her alive. Oh. Hang on. We've pulled a... I've been in prison for five years. The first couple of years, there was no going anywhere or doing anything. Purely in the hospital full-time. It's a necessary but tiring existence living and parenting in the public eye. Only got one more night to sleep here, and then I'm moving to my new house. After nearly five years, Tiff needs to get out of hospital... to a place to call home. SOFT MUSIC (SOBS LOUDLY) Welcome to your new home, sweetheart. (CHATTERS INDISTINCTLY) A new pad and a playhouse that Joel built his birthday girl. It is amazing that my little girls will sleep under the same roof, but there's such a better feeling if my little girl was better and going home. Eva stayed overnight just once at the house, so it's far from a normal home life. But it holds hope for a life outside of the hospital, and hope's welcome when so much of it's been stolen. LITTLE MERMAID'S 'UNDER THE SEA' PLAYS While the birthday cards are special,... There's some in here from Italy and some in here, I think, from Australia. ...it's the chance to go to school that's got Eva amped. Are you excited going to school? Starship's on-site school. Does it make if we...? (LAUGHS) She wants her backpack; she wants her lunch box, and she doesn't even eat lunch, but she wants everything like that. Eva wants to be normal. Oh my gosh. I forgot to do the legs. Will she be at school all day? Will she be at school all day? No. No. I think they're starting with 20 minutes, and they'll get her up to half an hour. How much can you count up to? How much can you count up to? Hundred. Hundred?! Hundred?! LAUGHS: No. That's half an hour away from the ward ` half an hour where Eva gets to be a 5-year-old. Yeah, education's important for everyone, but for Eva it's probably not the be-all and end-all, I mean, realistically, you know. (LAUGHS) There's not gonna be uni fees for Eva. 10, nine, eight, six, seven, five, four, three, two, one. That's backwards. You are amazing. But in many ways, Eva's education, if you like, is online ` SINGS: # You'll never know if you never try... # how she keeps in touch with the world and how the world keeps in touch with her. If you have life` If you wake up tomorrow, and you have life, and you can look and see someone loves you, then you are really lucky. And Eva sees that every day. She has life, and she has people around her that love her; people all over NZ that love her. How lucky is she? Hi, mister Sky Tower man. This is Eva. Almost 13,000 people follow Eva on Facebook, and plenty saw her plea for even the Sky Tower to take part in Red Nose Day. Could you please wear a red nose on... Red Nose Day? I mean, she's looked at that view her whole life. Four years, you know. Even as a baby, it's what you see out of Starship window. Hi. Hi. < WOMAN: Yeah. Hi. < WOMAN: Yeah. He's funny to cuddle. Not only did she get to go to the top,... PEOPLE CHATTER Over here... ...but it was Eva herself who turned the tip red. UPBEAT MUSIC I've had people say to me, 'What? Is she like an ad and a product and stuff?' Maybe Eva is an ad, but she's an ad for how precious your life is and` and to take it and run with it, and that's always been our philosophy. That's exactly what Tiff's doing ` running with it. I'm really overwhelmed to be here tonight because Cure Kids is really close to my heart. She's put her paintings up for auction,... The support is amazing. And I'll just pretend they like the art. (LAUGHS) ...and she's shaved her head ` CROWD CHEERS, WHOOPS or I did ` all for the charity Cure Kids. (LAUGHS) Tiff has felt powerless, and she's felt desperate this year, but she's also found confidence and her own voice. I think this year more than any year, I've needed that light relief. I think it's come at the right time. I think it's come at the right time. Has this year changed you? A 100%, yup. And I don't know at times if it's... (EMOTIONALLY) I think about that a lot, and I don't know if it's changed me for the better or not. Um,... I cry a lot more. Um, yeah. I think it's` it's taught me a lot more, but it's taught me to, kind of` that I'm not this tough person that can achieve everything that I thought I was; um, that I'm not gonna, you know, be the person that fixes my little girl, and that` that there is anger and resentment inside of me for what we've been handed at times. Tiff's the first one to say 2012 broke her. Her marriage split, and her baby's lucky to be alive. But while the toughness is gone, there's resilience about this young mum ` a resilience she'll need for when the rollercoaster stops. I get really scared about the future for` for me because my kids have been my world for so long, you know. What` What does my future hold? What` What does my future hold? Do you believe you can keep going? Yeah. Yeah. Oh yeah. There's plenty` plenty left in this 5 foot of muscle. WAVES SPLASH Oh, Eva, you're such a star, and your mum and your sister and your dad all look pretty awesome as well. Our special thanks to Carmen of Carmen Bird Photography for the gorgeous still photos of Eva we used in that story. Righto. Next up, violence in schools. But this time it's not the students in the wrong. Now that kids as young as grade school have smart phones, more and more examples of teachers gone wild are popping up around the country. Here's a teacher's tantrum in Tennessee; CHILDREN SCREAM some faculty fisticuffs in Florida. That's the teacher throwing the punch. CHILDREN SHOUT Welcome back. Bullies in the classroom are nothing new, right? But what happens when it's the teachers doing the bullying? XYLOPHONE MUSIC When 15-year-old Julio Artuz's parents sent him to school in southern New Jersey, they thought he was entering a nurturing environment. But look at what was happening. I will your kick ass from here to kingdom come until I'm 80 years old. That's Steven Roth, a teacher in school for special needs kids. You'll never be able to beat me, dude. Believe it or not, Roth was given extra training to deal with classroom outbursts. Guess that training didn't teach him how to control himself. (SPEAKS INDISTINCTLY) Julio had been complaining about his teacher for months, insisting the classroom had become a crucible of torment. You felt he was pushing you around, being a bully. Yes. Saying that I couldn't amount to anything. Like most parents, the Artuzs couldn't believe such a claim and assumed Julio was just making up stories. I thought that he was actually lying. We finally discussed it, and we said, 'Let him take his phone in and see what happens.' So Julio left for school with his smartphone in hand. His parents wanted proof; he wanted payback. That same day after school, his parents scepticism was replaced by horror. I'm being real. Real sucks. This is when he's coming up. I'm afraid. Because guess what. When he leaves here, nobody gives a <BLEEP>. Nobody, dude. How are you in class with the teacher? He started disrespecting me and disrespecting me and disrespecting me. I started not liking him. What does the title on the front of the school say? Special education. What does the title on the front of the school say? Special education. Don't call me special. What would you like me to call you, Jules? What would you like me to call you, Jules? Normal. The confrontation escalates, with the teacher making physical threats. All right. But when I get out of this school, you don't have to call me special. Jules, I will kick your ass from here to kingdom come until I'm 80 years old. You'll never be able to beat me, dude, never. You're never gonna be... (SPEAKS INDISTINCTLY) What are you going to do? What are you going to do? You would threaten me? What are you going to do? You would threaten me? I'm not. You said when you get out of school, what are you going to do? You said when you get out of school, what are you going to do? I didn't. Get out of my face. There isn't nothing you do. There ain't going to be nothing you ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever do. You don't see me moving. I could not believe this was a teacher. You're teaching a kid how to curse, how to be a bully. You're teaching everything that's wrong. We all know teachers deserve respect, and they have a stressful job. And this is thankfully the exception. I'm spitting on ya! But exceptions happen more than you might think. Now that kids as young as grade school have smartphones, more and more examples of teachers gone wild are popping up around the country. Here's a teacher's tantrum in Tennessee,... YELLING, SCREAMING ...some faculty fisticuffs in Florida ` that's the teacher throwing the punch ` Oh my God! and then there is this from Texas that takes physical education to a terrible level. This isn't a cage fight; it's a gym class, and the person with the jeans is a teacher, Sherri Davis, a former teacher of the year, in fact. After this, Davis was fired, and on GMA she chalked up this decision to a lack of training. We receive very little training concerning these kids. Directly, I need to know what` how can I address this rather than just blowing up. You get your buttons pushed, you show emotion, you get upset, you get angry, and your lose your power. Dr Charles Fay wrote a series of books called Love and Logic. He's an expert in classroom management and says teachers losing their cool is nothing new and that there is nothing worse. Those kids, they don't look at that and think, 'Ooh, man, look at that guy. He's tough.' They look at him and think, 'Man, look at the colour of his face. 'You're going to self-destruct in about two seconds. Let's get it on.' You threated me? The solution? Do what you do at home as a parent. When kids act out, kill 'em with kindness. Don't think too hard about what that kid is saying, because you're going to get mad. We just need something we can repeat over and over again. 'I know.' (CHUCKLES) I love the look on your face too when you say` It's very disarming. They have the hardest job in the world. But if you don't have the right attitudes, that's going to wear on you like water torture. And when that happens, the risk is the tortured... take it out on the children. As for Julio, his parents went to see the principal who at first was sceptical. That is until he saw the video. The school suspended Mr Roth without pay and sent him to court, requesting he be fired. But the final word has yet to come from the New Jersey Commissioner of Education. Now, neither Mr Roth nor anyone in the state of New Jersey would discuss the case with us, but a few weeks ago Julio got an even sweeter payback. Legislation was introduced in New Jersey by Senator Diane Allen to crack down on teachers bullying students. I don't think there are that many who are bullies, but the one who are need to be thrown out and thrown out quickly. There's our man Julio by her side. I just want this to stop. I don't want anybody else to have to feel the way that it made me feel ` the lowest I've ever felt in my whole life. Julio says cameras could be the answer. Put them in classes to see what happens to protect not just kids but teachers as well. Next up on 20/20 ` what drives people to turn their homes into animal rescue centres? Ready to be ratified? Ready to be ratified? You're ratifying me. This is Dirty Pie, Phoebe, Zarah, Thomas, Billie. I don't know what psychiatrists would make of me. (LAUGHS) Dread to think, really. Welcome back. If having one or two pets makes you a animal lover, and having three or four makes you pet mad, what does having 15 cats or 18 rats make you? Kind? Or just plain crazy? Tonight, 20/20's Emma Keeling's in Wellington to meet two women who've turned their homes into animal sanctuaries. PINK'S 'BLOW ME' If you think your household's a bit mad, check this out. Are you ready to be ratified? Are you ready to be ratified? You're ratifying me. This is Dirty Pie, Phoebe, Zara, Thomas, Billy. They're not the norm, and they know it. In my defence, I'd like to point out that I was raised by a hoarder. I don't know what a psychiatrist would make of me. (CHUCKLES) I dread to think, really. They're the people who set out to rescue the waifs and strays. Micha, Teddy. This is Baby. And then there's Sunita. I've lost track of how many that was now. I've got Pokey as well. I had one friend, Wendy, who said to me one day, 'I really love cats, eh,' but she said, 'I just could not live like this. There's just so many of them.' And I had about 30-odd running around the lounge at that stage. # Kitten, I'm smitten # with you. If you want to start up there. If you want to start up there. Yep. # I'm so smitten. You could keep me warm like my mittens... Morning, precious. You OK? # In the wintertime... I started off fostering, um, kittens for the league. Started off with two. I said to the kids we were not going to get attached. # I'm smitten... # 13 years later, Susan McNair's very attached and unable to let go. Why the need to have so many? Why not one or two? Because there isn't one or two out there that need help. There's thousands of them, and that's why the CPL runs desexing programmes. Um, it's to try and help stop the amount of cats` well, unwanted ones that are out there. KITTENS MIAOW The CPL is the Cat Protection League. Susan is the Wellington president. It's all volunteer work. I'm actually on the benefit. Um, unemployed people don't have to just sit around doing nothing, and I actually do believe I earn my benefit, and, yeah, I work, well, eight to 10 hours every day, seven days a week. Her kids, Sinead and Michael, have been drawn into their mum's work. They make sacrifices as family. My son, he works, and he helps support what we do as well. And we just survive very meagrely. The Cat Protection League, they pay for all the food, the litter and the vet bills. Every so often if it gets a bit tight and everything, we just sell something. We look around, like, 'Ooh, don't need that.' And, yeah, Trade Me, and, bang, it's gone. So, really, you can't afford the kids to move out. So, really, you can't afford the kids to move out. Um,... well, no. (CHUCKLES) No, but then they're never going to go anywhere. Yeah, I always say to them, 'When anything happens to me, this is your legacy. You guys take over.' So, you've been doing this now for ` what ` 12, 13 years. Coming up 13. Coming up 13. How has the house changed in that time? BOTH CHUCKLE BOTH CHUCKLE I don't have carpet up the hallway any more. The wallpaper, we've had patches depending on the cat that's here. We've lost all the net curtains. They went quite a while ago. The dining room carpet went. The lounge carpet's just about done its dash. The front decking, we thought if we enclosed it, it would give them somewhere for the cats to play. So all the home improvements are for the cats? Yes, if they need space. Yes, if they need space. < Right. OK. Yes, if they need space. < Right. OK. If they need space to spread out. In Susan's house, cats clearly come first. This is Oliver perched on my shoulder. This is` (GASPS) This is Twist, who wants up. Oliver and Twist have become a part of who she is. Why did you get that tattoo? Because they were. They were lost. I found them. They were broken, and now they're healed. Now I'm going to cry. Now I'm going to cry. < And that heals you in some way? It's a story that nearly always brings her to tears. It was just` Oh, you should have seen them when they came in, eh? They were just... (CLEARS THROAT) Their little stumps were just so` They were puss-y. They were all infected. Their feet had been sawn off. Not just hacked off with an axe, but actually sawn off. I went through so much with them, just getting them back into health so their legs could be amputated. Hello. It takes a special kind of devotion to do what Susan does, and it goes much deeper than those words inked on her arm. It symbolises, um, Oliver and Twist, but it also symbolises another thing. Um, my mum always wanted 10 kids and everything, and she only ever had me and Michael, but she had, um, five miscarriages as well. She's got a lot of love to give. She's got a lot of love to give. Yep. Got a lot of love to give. That's what she loves ` cats. Pretty much her babies. In some ways, Susan's house is her cage. She only leaves to buy food or take a cat to the vet. Do you dream of those moments you could actually sit down and not have a cat around you? No, because people say to me, 'Oh, wouldn't you like to go away on holiday or something or other?' Um, but it's, like, 'Where would I go?' (LAUGHS) What would I do? I spent four days last year in hospital cos I had a cat scratch. Well, just a claw went in the back of my leg, and it turned into cellulitis. And so I spent four days in hospital, and that was four days in nearly 13 years that I've ever had a break. And luckily my room had a phone so I could still do cat stuff while I was in hospital. (LAUGHS) And, yes, a year later, I'm still in bandages. And then you have people saying, you know, 'Even then, you're still not going to give up?' No. (CHUCKLES) Bandage my legs up. I've still got hands. (LAUGHS) So keep going. Why do people live to rescue animals? Rachel Prince can't explain it. There's no one little mould that we've all popped out of. I really don't know what drives people ` whether it's a self-worth thing. Whether it's just trying to make the difference that we can each make. She's here for a pick-up. So, you're wanting just the babies taken or the adults as well? Um, if possible, all of them would be fantastic. Running loose in the attic is Rachel's animal passion ` rats. What does GGMR stand for? Gotta Get More Rats is kind of an online joke. Basically, the joke is you can never just have one rat. For six years she's volunteered for NZ Rat Rescue. This owners moving so has asked Rachel to take them. It's a typical situation. She's supposed to pick up four but will leave with nine. You are actually a boy. That's a surprise, and not good news since he's been hanging with four females. How many rats is too many rats? Depends on the person. Depends on the person. You. > Depends on the person. You. > I really like being under 20. Um, three months ago, I would have said, 'Oh, I really like being under 30.' So, we have... Rachel's house is sanctuary for 18 rats. Outside of the rat clubs, few understand the need to have so many. There's some people we don't invite over because I am self-conscious about that we do live differently. When we're at play-centre with the kids and you have meetings, they've come over and then sat there going,... (SQUEAKS) And just unable to focus or whatever. Rats, cats, dogs and sons Kane and Ashton ` numbers fluctuate with the constant threat of a population explosion from surrendered rats. There could be another five litters. There could be another five litters. Right. And a litter can be about? Um, average of 12. Um, average of 12. < OK. Um, average of 12. < OK. But can easily be over 20. We could get another 60 little rats out of this? We could get another 60 little rats out of this? Quite easily, yes. Is your self-worth linked to what you do? Certainly if it's something you're passionate about it, inevitably that becomes part of who you are. The number of people that ring and ask to talk to the rat lady, as cringeworthy as that name is. So is the house run by the rats? Um, to some degree, yeah. (LAUGHS) (LAUGHS) Sad as that is. Um,... obviously the kids come first. Um, but there are some things you have to do. There's constant feeding, cleaning, vacuuming sometimes twice a day. Large numbers of rodents can create a bit of a stink. I know that I'm not always the world's best housekeeper. Um, I do my best. In my defence, I'd like to also point out to people I was raised by a hoarder, so I think I'm doing OK. Are you a hoarder of rats? It's something that is quite a sensitive topic in, sort of, the rat world because a lot of people do collect rats. Um, I know people who have got up over a hundred. Um, we've had` At the most, we've had 76. The big difference is hoarders cannot let things go. Um, I can. I regularly adopt rats out. That's why she's called Yeti. However, no matter what they do, the cats and rats just keep coming. One will be re-homed, then another 10 or 20 turn up on the doorstep. Can you ever tell her, 'Stop, Mum. Just stop'? We try to, but she absolutely loves the cats. She loves what she does. PINK'S 'BLOW ME' It's easy to see why Rachel and Susan go a little crazy for these little furballs. Ohhh, thank you. Ohhh, thank you. One little bundle of him. Hello. Ow. Claws. Ow. Look. KITTEN MEOWS KITTEN MEOWS Oh, you're squeaky. Can't help squeaking at me. Hello. (CHUCKLES) Step away from the kittens. Step away from the kittens. I like to think that I'm helping. In some way, I'm making a dent in the population of unwanted cats and kittens. I'd love to have enough money to buy a lifestyle block so I could have a cattery, and then I could take in more. (CHUCKLES) Yes, crazy as it is, yes, I would do more. (LAUGHS) Next up on 20/20 ` if you were down on your luck, would you get a tattoo for money? Billy has gone from this, pre-ink... to this. Oh... my... goodness. We had to blur some of those racy logos. Porn's quite a... bold word to have tattooed on your face. That isn't a good thing to have 'porn' on your face, you know. I'm not happy about that. Last year was a hard year. This year's been a 10 times harder year. Welcome back. It seems everybody is getting inked these days, but how far could you go with it? What would you have tattooed on your body if someone else was paying for you to do it? Tonight 20/20 meets a man renting out his face and a Mormon mum with the name of a casino across her forehead. Some of us tattoo our skin for love. Angelina inked a big old Billy Bob. Christina Aguilera had Jordan Bratman's initials tattooed on her lower back. Eva Longoria tattooed her husband's jersey number on her neck. Rihanna and Chris Brown ` single matching stars. Others tattoo for shock. Lady Gaga just inked her neck in public at her fragrance launch. BUZZING Others tattoo for,... well, uh,... I'm not exactly sure. And others, yep, just get tattooed for money. Yes, money. Meet Billy. He's a hard-working guy. A mailroom clerk in Alaska, father of five, who's fallen on hard times in the past, struggled to keep food on the table and a roof over their heads... and resorted to the final frontier in advertising ` skin-vertising. I just didn't want to see my kids on the street. That would have broke my heart. Billy has gone from this ` pre-ink ` to this. Oh my goodness. We had to blur some of those racy logos. 'Porn's' quite a bold word to have tattooed on your face. That isn't a good thing to have 'porn' on your face. You know, I'm not happy about that. Billy now has 22 tattoos on his face. For some, he was paid as little as $800, and he regrets it. He might not look it, but he's a sweet, sweet guy. He got his first paid tattoo to cover bills after he donated a kidney to a stranger. I thought it would be nice to help them. Wow. That's an incredible thing to do. Wow. That's an incredible thing to do. Oh, thank you. But now he wants to clean up his face. He'd like a better job. He has words like, you know, 'porn' tattooed on his cheek. He has words like, you know, 'porn' tattooed on his cheek. That's a problem. Professor Christopher Zachary is a dermatologist at UC Irvine, and he removes tattoos, like this one. No pain, no gain. Beautiful. Look at that. Britney has O and C on her, well, there, and 'love' on her finger. Oh my God. To remove just the 'OC' will cost over $2000. Do you have any tattoos? Do you have any tattoos? I do not. Do you think I should get one? I don't. I don't. A butterfly? OK, so that's what I have. Oh, what a pretty specimen. But, in my defence, I was only 18. Now, that's Billy Gibby. Billy, you've got a problem, boy. I hope they paid you well. This will be, I think, a medical nightmare. In a few years, laser technology will have caught up with Billy's face, and he might be in luck. For now? I think we can get 'porn' out of his face. We do have the blues and the greens up here. It's a tough one. Black is easiest. Get black if you're gonna look back,... like Carrie. She's a pretty girl, but that's really gonna cause her problems. Uh, does she have a job? That's Carrie, a sweet Mormon mom from small town Utah. It was like somebody had taken a big stamp and went.... (POPS LIPS) You know? And just that was it. (CHUCKLES) Goldenpalace.com paid her $15,000, and they made that go a long way in Utah. They're a family of simple needs and pleasures. Carrie did this to get a better place for her son to live. They're a family with a sense of humour. You know, your husband's moving in for a kiss, and, you know, and he sees, you know... He kind of chuckles. He kind of chuckles. I bet. He kind of chuckles. I bet. He does kind of giggle a little bit. Seven years later, you'll notice she's now nearing the end of a lengthy process of having it removed. Six laser treatments so far. About 800 bucks spent. Just one more to go. Carrie discovered the tattoo was career limiting. For good or ill, if two people are going for a job, are you going to give the job to the lady with the tattoo on her head? Or the other one that looks normal? Right. 45 million of you out there have tattoos. 17% of you regret it. Did you get to a point where you wished it wasn't on your face? Did you get to a point where you wished it wasn't on your face? Sometimes, like when I go out to nice dinners and stuff like that. I got a little bit hard to kind of cover it up. For Billy, no more face. He means it. I wouldn't even consider it. Even if somebody offered me $1 million, I wouldn't do it for the face. For Eva Longoria, I'm guessing tattoo regret set in three years later when she got divorced. Rihanna? Well, there was one star for Chris. She just added a few more after they split. And Chris had this tattooed on his neck. Who knows what that means. And Angelina? Well, Billy Bob's ancient history. She's had that tattoo removed and covered it with the coordinates for the birthplaces of her kids with Brad. That's grown up. Oh, and just for the record, I don't regret mine, a butterfly on my back. A discreet badge of a misspent youth. Coming up have you noticed your favourite star seems to have an impossibly small waste lately? Well it could be something other than Photoshop. The agony, the ecstasy or squeezing your body into that glamorous hourglass shape. At its most extreme, it's called waist training. # I was born this way # Maybe it's the secret to how Lady Gaga was recently reborn this way ` going from this to this in a matter of days. Last year was a hard year. This year's been a 10 times harder year. Welcome back. A Victorian-era undergarment is getting a 21st century upgrade as people wear them to permanently train their waists to a smaller size. From mothers who tight-lace to get rid of post-pregnancy pounds to teenagers experimenting with their own personal style, corsets are finding a brand-new audience. In the blink of an eye, bodies transform from ordinary to fabulous. It's a trend taking women by storm on the red carpet and off. (GROANS) The agony, the ecstasy of squeezing your body into that glamorous hourglass shape. At its most extreme, it's called waist training. Just hold on and suck in! In the days of Gone With the Wind, it took an extra pair of hands. Now through YouTube, you can learn to do it yourself. Corsets are back again maybe because women are going mad for Mad Men. Ann Grogen's been wearing and selling corsets for more than 20 years. She calls herself a corset coach. But these are things that were once considered torture devices. Why would women today want to wear corsets? They call attention to the curviness of a lady's body, and perhaps for the physical challenge of seeing how far they can go and how much they can test their physical strength. Take a deep breath. In Utah, Amanda Myers is a new mom with a passion for corsets. And exhale. (EXHALES) Where I wanna be is... there. Just a little wider than her neck. (CHUCKLES) But while inching her way towards a smaller waistline, Amanda made a surprising discovery. It helped me get rid of all of my baby weight, all the extra pudge down around the belly button area. No surprise to Ann Grogen. Gastric banding is quite a similar process to corseting. Both seriously restrict the abdomen and the ability to eat large portions. (GROANS) (GROANS) Just pull this a little bit down on the body. Oh my goodness. It's easy to get excited, given that over the last 60 years, women's waistlines have grown by 6 inches, which may explain the multibillion dollar boom in the shape-wear industry. # Baby I was born this way. # Maybe it's the secret to how Lady Gaga was recently reborn this way, going from this to this in a matter of days. Hit me. As for me, I'm simply trying to get used to wearing mine, and so is my family. I have to say, I have a pretty strong ab. That's OK. He's not hurting me. Ohhh, OK. That's good. Ann gave me strict rules to follow. The first thing will be limitation in your breathing. Chew your food 30 times before you swallow. Lots of chewing. It's a little bit awkward getting in and out of cars because your torso's a little more rigid. You will surely develop heartburn and a very uncomfortable feeling in your midriff. After six days of living in my corset, I got a tingling sensation down my leg. But with those tiny meals, hey, my waist was down a bit. 27.5. Is that possible? Wow. I'm wearing that baby. And if you think it's just women happily lacing up, think again. I'd say 10% of my clientele is, uh, what I call manly men. Two lawyers, in fact, have purchased corsets from me and wear them in their trial work. It seems corsets aren't just for the straight-laced any more. So the next time you see an impossibly svelte silhouette, just think someone may be slinking around with a Victorian secret under wraps. Last week we brought you an update on Dr Jared Noel ` a man who is living life to the full despite being diagnosed with terminal bowel cancer. Now, Jared is an ambassador for Beat Bowel Cancer Aotearoa, and this weekend they're having an open garden fundraiser in Dunedin, so if you're down there in the area, they'd appreciate your support. In the meantime, if you want to see any of tonight's stories again, head to our website. You can also email us at... or go to our Facebook page... and let us know your thoughts on tonight's show. Now, that, in fact, was our final show for this year. Thanks so much for watching. It's been a real privilege for us to bring you the stories we have and to meet those Ks willing to share their stories with us. We'll be back next February, so do keep in touch over the summer if you've got something you think we should know about or a story we should be following. Till next year, have fun, stay safe, and we'll see you again in 2013.