Behind the young father's 'monster' tattoo

An American father created a tattoo that looked exactly like the incision on his son's head to help him feel confident after surgery for a malignant brain tumor.

Gabriel Marshall, 8, from Kansas, was diagnosed with a rare malignant brain tumor in March 2015. The successful surgery removed most of the tumor but left a scar above his ear. After the surgery, Gabriel's health is now stable. However, Gabriel confided to his father that the scar makes him feel like a "monster".

"This breaks my heart," said Josh Marshall, Gabriel's father.

28-year-old father gets tattoo of exact same surgical scar on his son's head. Photo: Buzzfeed.

Josh decided to get a tattoo of his son's surgical scar on his head. The 28-year-old father wanted to help Gabriel regain his confidence and understand that his family was always there for him.

"I told him, if someone wants to look, they can look at both of us," Buzzfeed quoted Josh as saying.

Gabriel likes his dad's tattoo and commented that it makes them look like "twins". On Father's Day, Josh and his son entered a contest organized by a fund to support children with cancer in the US. Josh and his father sent a photo of the scar on their head with the message: "My son and I attended this year's event in Wichita, Kansas. I got a tattoo that looks like his scar to help him gain confidence."

The photo received 5,000 votes. Alison Sutton, the event's communications manager, said it was the first time she had seen a father shave his head and get a tattoo to boost his son's confidence. "It was a really touching story," Alison said.

After winning the contest, Josh and his father's photo was shared all over social networks and received a huge number of likes.

Josh and his father.

According to Ngoisao.net