PHILADELPHIA, Pa. — It’s a landscape, mosaic, a tribute to Philadelphia fandom. And the canvas? Twenty-six-year old Rob Dunphy’s body.
“The only person that really doesn’t care for them is my grandpop still to this day. Even at the game, he was texting my dad at halftime, ‘Tell fathead to put his shirt on,’” Dunphy said.
In Thursday’s game against the Packers, the Eagles came out with a big win.
But it was images captured of Dunphy’s ink eagle, bridge, bell and the belly button that stole the show.
“Got the whole thing outlined at once and we went from there. He put the Phanatic where it was, and I liked it, so we ran with it,” Dunphy said.
“He came in one day and wanted a whole Philadelphia chest piece,” said The Inkwell tattoo artist Mike Nemo.
But that piece isn’t yet complete. A Sixers tribute still needs to be added and also a high school.
“North Catholic is going to be here somewhere. It was originally over here, but since Gritty came about, I have no idea. We are going to have to throw him in there somewhere,” Dunphy said.
A fundraiser was quickly created to fund the rest of Dunphy’s ink.
“I was like, ‘Hey, maybe we could turn this into a good thing.’ So I texted Rob, and I said, ‘If you can reach $10,000 and donate it to charity, I’ll finish it for free,’” Nemo said.
Dunphy chose to donate the money to Storm the Heavens, which funds research for Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma (DIPG), a type of tumor that starts in the brain stem.
“It’s a uniformly fatal form of brain cancer that affects mostly children under the age of 11,” said Mina Carroll, co-founder of Storm the Heavens.
In 2017, Carroll’s 8-year-old daughter, Philomena, passed away due to DIPG.
With this, Dunphy doesn’t mind all of his newfound attention.
“I mean, I would like to do something with it. Turn it into more of a positive,” Dunphy said.
“When an ordinary person gets a moment of fame, and they choose to do good with it and use it to be the voice for those who have no voice, it’s extraordinary, and we are so, so grateful,” Carroll said.
As of Tuesday, that fundraiser has reached more than $11,000. For more information or to donate to the cause, click here.
