Father's dying tattoo wish honoured before his life support switched off

A young father-of-four's dying wish has been honoured by staff at a New Zealand hospital.

Daniel Kopa was rushed to Auckland Hospital on Tuesday morning in a critical condition, after being struck by a car.

As the 34-year-old's family gathered by his bedside, they requested a tattoo of his be completed as he had intended.

Dann already had a tattoo across his chest and arms honouring his young daughters Harper, five, and Zoey, two, but he had yet to include his eight-month-old twins Eden and Charli.

Wife Calli put the call out, with local tattoo artist Andre Garcia fulfilling the family's wishes.

"She said he was planning to do this tattoo a little bit before this happened. It was such an important thing to do. I said, 'Yes, I'll do it'," he told the New Zealand Herald.

It took two hours to complete the artwork, which Andre did free-of-charge in the hospital around midnight, while the family watched on.

Hospital staff had delayed switching off life support so Dann could have his ink completed but the machine was eventually turned off on Thursday.

Friends and family have created a Give A Little page to help raise funds for Calli and the four girls.

The page describes the doting dad as "generous, friendly and always [with] a smile on his face.

"Hard working, an incredible friend, and all round amazing person – if you know Daniel, then you consider yourself lucky to know one of the good guys.

"Naturally, Dann's family is devastated. His family is his world."

So far, the page has received over $92,000 in donations from almost 1500 donors from around the world.