Barber Shaved Off His Hair In Support Of His Friend With Cancer Who Broke Down In Tears

Jan 23, 2023

On top of physical pain, fighting cancer involves a constant emotional struggle — including the pain of not knowing what’s to come, which will affect the patient in one way or another. That’s why people who are battling cancer should always have someone to support them emotionally throughout their fight.

Of course, there are others who opt to fight their battles alone – and that’s okay. Maybe that person simply doesn’t want to put any burden on their loved ones, or maybe they try to avoid making the people close to them absorb the pain they are feeling inside.

Then again, there’s nothing wrong with seeking help because family and friends will always have compassion for the people they love no matter what happens – especially during times when they need them the most. And yes, that includes the people who are battling cancer and other life-threatening diseases.

Some people who are battling cancer are forced to shave their heads because of treatments like chemotherapy. There are people who feel their scalps getting itchy or irritated during treatments which sometimes results in their hair eventually falling out. To lessen the irritation, some cancer patients opt to shave their heads. Others choose to shave their heads to get ahead of the shedding of hair that occurs.

In a video posted in January 2023, Danillo Mendonça made sure to make his friend Núbia de Paula — who has cancer but is in remission — feel that she had a friend she could count on after he decided to make a move that made everyone emotional. The post explained that the video took place one year earlier, at the start of 2022. 

Bravo's Barbearia shared the video that has since made rounds online. It shows de Paula at the salon, while Mendonça shaves off her hair. The barber's compassionate act brought de Paula to tears. 

After Mendonça finished shaving the woman’s hair, he surprised de Paula when he suddenly cut off his own hair. At one point, de Paula tried to stop Mendonça, but he wrapped his arms around her and went to shave off his hair anyway.

One person shared how she could relate to the video since she was a cancer patient herself.

“As a cancer patient, you often feel like you're on an island by yourself. It's a very lonely time. Anything friends and family can do to help you not feel so alone is 100% appreciated,” the user wrote.

While some Reddit users shared how the video made them emotional, other users started sharing their own personal experiences of being there for their family members who battled cancer. One father, for one, made light of the situation by sharing a hilarious encounter with his daughter when she told him she was going to shave her head. 

“When my 10-year-old daughter was going through her stem cell transplant all of her beautiful long hair came out from the chemo. I told her I was going to shave my head just like her and she looked at me and said ‘No Daddy, you are already ugly don't make it worse,’” the father said.

But the same person said that he couldn’t be prouder of his daughter, a cancer survivor, for her achievement 13 years later.

“As a follow-up to this, thanks for all of the love. After a really rough unmatched transplant and years of GVHD she is good and thriving now! She is 23 and in her last year of nursing school to be a pediatric oncology nurse and I couldn’t be more proud of her!” the father revealed.

What can you say about the move of the barber to cut his own hair in support of his friend? Were you also inspired by his deed as a good friend? Let us know what you think, and pass this on to your family and friends who might find this story interesting.