Bald for a cause: Father’s love and support for children with leukemia

Eleven Chinese fathers who have their heads shaved sell bottled water at the crossing of Huizhou Road and Huancheng Road in Hefei, capital of east China Anhui province. They all wore white T-shirts with a big red logo of "Bald fathers of children with leukemia".

The eleven dads came from different provinces of China. They got to know each other when they took their children with leukemia for treatment in Anhui provincial hospital. The oldest patient of the eleven families is 12 years old and the youngest boy is only 5.

"Shaving my head is one of the greatest decisions I have ever made," said Gong Zhixing. The eleven dads all agreed to have their heads shaved to encourage their children to face baldness during cancer treatment. Later they came up with an idea of setting up a support group and working together to raise money for their children.

"We’ve raised several thousand yuan by selling bottled water in almost a week," said Liu Wenbu, one of the eleven dads.

According to Liu, at first their business was not good. “It is weird to see a group of bald men selling bottled water on the street,” he said.

When people knew about their purpose, things got better. They had more business than before and many warm hearted citizens bought bottled water despite of detour.

"Some people just left a banknote of 100 yuan and left without a word," Liu added.

The eleven fathers are beautiful when they are bald. It gives them a chance to share their story and raise awareness about leukemia in children and to tell people about the civil supporting group when people ask them why their heads are shaved.