A man became a local celebrity after eating a whole rotisserie chicken every day for 40 days - and on the final day a crowd gathered around him and chanted 'Eat that bird' as he scoffed the last one. Alexander Tominsky, 31, has been dubbed 'the Philadelphia Chicken Man' after embarking on the unusual challenge.
Alexander admitted that even to him it "sounds weird", but he "felt like I was doing it for a very important reason". He originally planned to do just 30 days but added another 10 on when he felt he hadn't gone far enough - but says he now needs time to "repair".
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Speaking to As It Happens, Alexander said: "I keep saying this, but it's the truth - it just felt like the right thing to do.
"It was something in my subconscious that was pushing me to the longevity of at least seven days, and then 30 days. And then at 30 days, I didn't feel enough pain, so I took it to 40.
"A rotisserie chicken, it's almost like sensory overload. Like, the smell, the way it sounds when you pull it apart, the taste — like, everything, every bit about it is just very amplified when it comes to your senses."
After completing his challenge, Alexander said he has lost his taste for food altogether and can barely stand to think about chickens, but completing it has brought him a celebrity status he'll struggle to shake off as easily.
On his last day, many residents of Philadelphia turned up to watch him complete the challenge and even chanted "Eat that bird" as he ripped apart the carcass in front of a huge crowd.
The city, which had in the space of five hours, lost both the World Series in baseball and the Major League Soccer Cup needed a celebration to sink its teeth into, and this is where 'The Philadelphia Chicken Man' came in.
Alexander had documented his journey with daily selfies on Twitter and posted signs inviting the masses to witness what would be his final chicken feast at the abandoned pier by one of the city's Walmart stores.
Peculiarly the challenge didn't come about due to a lost bet, or for any financial gain, it was, in his own words, to do something that brings him pain to make others smile.
"Sounds weird," he told The New York Times. "But I just felt like I was doing this for a very important reason."
Over the course of his challenge, Alexander lost around 16lbs (7kg) in weight.
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