It is well known that parents are capable of doing literally anything to see a smile on their little ones’ faces and make them happy, even if that means they would have to make huge sacrifices.
A 28-year-old American dad got a tattoo and shaved his head so that it would match his son’s scar after brain surgery.
Josh found out in March 2015 that his son Gabriel had a rare type of brain tumor called anaplastic astrocytoma.
After his diagnosis, the next few months were tough on the family as Gabriel underwent several treatments and invasive surgery.
After his surgery, although the doctors declared him stable, the little boy still had some amount of tumor left in his brain.
“My son was very self-conscious after he got his surgery. He felt like a monster,” Josh said.
“He’s been doing good, and he’s been off treatment about nine months now,” Josh added.
“He has scans once every three months, and his next MRI is scheduled for next week.”
The surgery left a big surgical scar on Gabriel’s head – something that would always remind him of his surgical procedure and its horror.
The little kid was so disturbed after his surgery because his head had a scar, which made him look different from the rest of the kids.
When Josh saw his child suffering and upset, he decided to do something to make him feel better. The father shaved his head and got a tattoo that looked exactly like Gabriel’s scar.
“When he told me that he felt like a monster due to his scar, that broke my heart,” said Marshall. “I told him if people wanted to stare, they could stare at both of us.”
Later the father-son duo participated in the “Best Bald Dad” competition.
“It’s a contest that takes submissions from dads, uncles, and grandfathers who have shaved their heads in honor of a child they know who has or had cancer.”
The father said that he entered the contest just to boost his son’s self-confidence.
The organization’s social media manager said they never saw some parent going to this length to relieve their child of his frustration.
“It was the first time we’ve seen an entry where a dad went above and beyond shaving his head in solidarity with his child and got a tattoo to build his son’s self-confidence.”
“It’s a truly touching story,” she added.
The father-son duo won the competition, and their picture went viral on social media and was shared and reshared by several big pages on Facebook and Instagram at that time.
After winning the contest, Josh took to his Facebook account and thanked everyone who supported him.
“I would like to thank everyone for helping make this happen, and it’s an honor to be titled 2016’s #BestBaldDad.”
“But the truth is I’m no better than any of the other contestants. We are all great fathers that would go to any extent to help our children, so in my eyes, we’re all winners.”
Click here to see the photo that won the competition.
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