Openly gay sports star Jake Bain just paid tribute to his late high school friend in a really beautiful way.
He stopped by a tattoo shop in Terre Haute, Indiana at the end of April and got a tattoo in memory of his buddy Nick Booker.
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“I can’t thank @carrieclarke and everyone from @wearequeencity for always being the kindest, most creative tattoo artists I’ve ever met!” he wrote on Instagram. “Thank you so much for helping me honor my dearest friend. Always thinkin’ about you bro @nickfrommissouri.”
The design of Jake’s tattoo had Nick’s name on the top along with latitude and longitude coordinates on the left and a colorfully designed area in the middle.
Booker died on September 27, 2018 at St. Barnabas Hospital with his mother at his side after suffering what doctors believed was a severe asthmatic attack. He was a freshman at Fordham University at the time of his passing.
Jake, who grew up with Nick in Missouri and went to the same high school as him, posted a sweet dedication after news broke about his passing on Instagram. “Today I lost one of my brothers Nick, you have been there with me since day 1,” he wrote. “These past six years have been some of the best times of my life because of you. You always knew how to make me laugh, and lit up any room you walked into.”
“You touched so many people’s lives, and have made everyone who had the honor to know you a better person,” Jake continued. “You left us way too soon, but I know you will always be watching over us. I just want to hear your voice one last time. I love you forever man, rest easy family♥️ I’ll see you again someday. Nicholas J. Booker 1999-2018.”
Jake first grabbed our attention in 2017 when he announced he was gay at a school assembly on National Coming Out Day. His community then surrounded him with nothing but love and support when the homophobic Westboro Baptist Church targeted him for demonstrations in March of last year. He discussed his coming out experience and the impact it has had on him and the LGBTQ community on The Ellen DeGeneres Show back in January.
The 19-year-old recently made waves again after it was revealed that he quit the Indiana State University football team. This allegedly has nothing to do with anything homophobic transpiring with his teammates, coaches or university. It was so he can focus on his academics.