Rachel Schank

What inspired your most recent tattoo?

My brother. He died in 2006 from a drug overdose, not Cystic Fibrosis, but he always struggled with both his addiction and illness. When he died, he was in the hospital for his Cystic Fibrosis, left to go get high, and unintentionally overdosed. My parents and I had to make the decision to turn off life support. I'm also a recovering addict and I wanted to get something to commemorate him.

If your ink could speak, what would it say?

Hope and Strength. Despite having an illness he was told would kill him before he reached 18, he never let it get him down. He had a lot of doctor's appointments, surgeries, had meds to take multiple times a day, and had to do breathing treatment as a child and he soldiered through it all. My brother, Brian, actually lived to be 26, defying the odds for children with Cystic Fibrosis. When he was 18 it was suggested he file for disability and he said no, I can still work.

What would you do with the $25,000?

I would Donate to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, go on a cruise, buy some rims for my car and tint the windows, get more tattoos, take my parents out to dinner, and save the rest!