Sometimes people complain when a viral video turns into some guy getting 15 minutes of fame, which turns into 30 minutes, which turns into 45 minutes, which then turns into Mike Jerrick pouring orange juice in his belly button on live television.

I’m talking about Rob Dunphy, the Phillie Phanatic tattoo guy, who became an overnight sensation after appearing on the Eagles/Packers broadcast last Thursday night. You may have realized that some of his tattoos remain unfinished, and a local artist offered him a deal, explaining that he would finish that work for free if Rob could raise money for charity.

Here’s the blurb from the fundraiser page:

Rob became an internet sensation in minutes due to an unfinished mosaic of Philadelphia tattoos on his chest. A local tattoo artist, Mike Nemo, reached out to him with a proposition that changed Rob forever. Mike’s proposal was simple; if Rob could raise $10,000, and donate it to a charity of his choice, he would finish the tattoos for FREE. To the surprise of many, Rob did just that, and he accomplished it in 48 HOURS!! Rob chose Storm the Heavens Fund as his charity of choice. At the time the decision was made he thought it was a good idea because it was a local charity and many of his neighborhood friends know the Carroll-Stendardo family. As Rob got closer and closer to his goal he knew his body was going to change on the outside as his tattoos would be completed, however, he had no idea how much it would change him, down to the very core of his heart & soul. This experience has given him the opportunity to learn more about the charity, it has opened his eyes to the need to do more, to be “better”. He, like those at Storm the Heavens, believes “WE MUST DO BETTER”.

Rob is now taking this 15 minutes of fame and turning it into something bigger than a phanatical sports fan, bigger than any tattoo, and bigger than something he ever thought he would have the honor of being a part of. His fundraising goal has changed, his main focus has turned to awareness, spreading awareness for the need to do more, the need to do better for our children because there is no cause greater than the fight for our children’s right to grow up to be adults. Rob has increased his monetary goal to $100,000, and he hopes to reach this goal by Christmas. He has decided to do this upon learning that children diagnosed with DIPG today (Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma), are given the same standard treatments and face the same virtually 0% survival rate as astronaut Neil Armstrong’s 2-year-old daughter, Karen, faced when she was diagnosed and died from the same disease in 1962. Almost 60 years and we have done nothing to save our children. WE MUST DO BETTER! All funds raised will go directly to desperately needed research funded by Storm the Heavens Fund. To learn more about Storm the Heavens, their inspiration and where the money goes, go to www.stormtheheavens.org

Hell yeah man. I love these stories. Dude becomes an internet sensation and channels that into a huge charitable donation.

Here’s another link to the fundraiser page, which is showing me a total of $14,204 dollars as of publication:

Get Dunphy’s Tattoos Finished #StormTheHeavens