Josh Marshall’s efforts to help his son cope with childhood cancer made him the #BestBaldDad of the year, and maybe of all time.
After six-year-old Gabe Marshall had a malignant golf-ball sized tumor removed from his brain, he appeared to be doing well from a medical standpoint. However, the surgery left the kind of scar that would make anyone, especially a young child, feel horribly self-conscious.
Marshall explained to BuzzFeed:
“This broke my heart. The doting father’s solution was to get a tattoo that resembled his son’s scar. I told him if people wanted to stare, they could stare at both of us.”
Josh Marshall also entered the above photo in the #BestBaldDad contest held by the St. Baldrick’s Foundation, which funds research into childhood cancer. The photo not only won first place, the photo and Josh’s efforts to help his son have gone viral. As the Huffington Post reports:
“Since Marshall’s big win, his photo with Gabriel has been shared all over social media. According to his dad, Gabriel is thrilled by their new viral fame.
Marshall also told the Huffington Post:
“He feels really happy and excited.”
Others have also posted photos of their brain-surgery scars on the “PRAYERS FOR GABE MARSHALL” Facebook page.
But despite all this feel-good news, Gabe’s family still deals with quite a serious situation. There’s a GoFundMe page with two-thirds to go in order to reach its $15,000 goal.
There’s also a request from Gabe’s mother to get on The Ellen DeGeneres show:
“Hey everyone we are trying to get the word out about childhood cancer and how our kids on get 4% of the national funding. The picture of Josh and Gabe has go viral and we are wanting to get the word to Ellen Degeneres about the photo and childhood cancer awareness please take a few minutes to fill out a request form about Josh and Gabe so we can spread the word more. Thank you all for all that you do We love you all.”
Watch a KSN news report about Gabe and his family below and see why Josh could be, not just the #BestBaldDad, but Best Dad, period.
Featured image via YouTube screengrab.
