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AJ Fennell took this picture with his iPhone Feb. 12, 2014.

((AJ Fennell))

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama - They say a picture is worth a thousand words. For AJ Fennell, it is worth a friendship, a friend, and a hope for a cure.

When the 25-year-old student at UAB's School of Dentistry snapped an iPhone picture of the snow that blanketed Birmingham last week, he had no idea the impact the photo would have as it swept across social media, or its potential to earn him cash. Or to do good. Now's he taking advantage of his 15 minutes, but not to help himself.

Instead, he wants that picture to help a co-worker battling lung cancer. "Since the picture went viral, I have been approached by a Birmingham tourism company, an artist who wants to paint the picture, and others who wanted me to sell them a copy of it,'' Fennell said. "No one is more surprised than I am by all of this."

Fennell, a third-year dental student, said he is amazed at the turn of events. On Wednesday, despite the promise of snow and treacherous roads, he and friends drove to Hoover to take advantage of the special on Bang Bang Shrimp at Bonefish Grill. By the time they were done eating, predictions had materialized and the snow was coming down.

"We were the crazies on the interstate,'' Fennell said. They made a stop at the City Federal Building to pick up friends, and then were heading to Highland Park to sled. While at City Federal, Fennell stepped out on a balcony, and took a picture of the snow-covered Birmingham skyline.

"I snapped the picture and added a filter to brighten it up because it was a little dark,'' he said. His only goal, he said, was to tweet the picture to James Spann in hopes that Spann would retweet it, which he did. Only Fennell didn't know that immediately, because his phone died shortly after sending out the tweet.

When he charged his phone and turned it back on a couple of hours later, "It was crazy,'' he said. "The next thing I knew, people wanted to buy it, wanted to paint it, wanted to have it framed."

As he watched the reaction, his wheels started to turn. All last week, dental students had taken part in raising money for endodontics resident Dr. Ned Wikle who is struggling with lung cancer. Wikle's wife just gave birth in January to the couples' third child. "I just want to help him and his wife out in whatever way possible,'' he said. "Just because he has 'doctor' in front of his name, that doesn't mean he's been practicing forever. He's got loans and three small children."

An idea came to him: "How amazing would it be if everyone who liked, favorited, retweeted or Instagrammed my picture contributed whatever they could for the cause?"

Fennell set up an online account through Fundly with simple instructions: "Make a donation and do what you want with the picture," he said. "Contribute whatever you feel led to give, and I will send you the original file."

By Monday afternoon, the account was at $1,000 and growing. The account can be found here.



Fennell, despite his own student loans, said it never occurred to him to try to profit from the photo. "He needs it more than I do. My loans are set in stone. I know what my payments are going to be every month,'' he said. "This is something completely unexpected for him. I wouldn't even think about keeping money I took from a simple picture I took with my iPhone. Wouldn't even think of it."