Sammy Miceli

Connect What inspired your most recent tattoo?

For my Lil Monkey, River—born at just 6.5 months, over two months early. She came into this world tiny, fragile, and fighting. And fight she did. For nearly 70 days in the NICU, she battled through every obstacle—tubes, wires, alarms, and uncertainty with a strength that shook us to our core. This tattoo is her roar. Her strength. Her fire. A symbol of the unbreakable spirit that lived inside her from the moment she arrived. It reminds me every day that toughness isn’t about si

If your ink could speak, what would it say?

I was born from fire and fight. I am the mark of a warrior in a 3-pound body who refused to quit. I carry the sound of every NICU alarm she silenced, every breath she battled for, and every miracle she made real. I am her roar when she couldn’t speak, her strength when she couldn’t stand. I am River’s story—etched in ink, pulsing with love, forever on her father’s skin.

What would you do with the $25,000?

If I’m fortunate enough to win, I would donate $10,000 to the NICU at St. Rose Hospital in honor of Dr. Sydney Adler—the incredible physician who performed the emergency surgery that helped save my daughter River’s life. Dr. Adler tragically passed away just weeks after that surgery, but her legacy lives on in every heartbeat of my “Lil Monkey.” With the remaining prize money, I would start a college fund for River