Physical Wellness

Boy, 7, Grows Hair To Donate To Cancer Patients Also Gets Cancer

By Brian McNeill | Update Date: May 11, 2016 06:00 AM EDT

The thing with kids is that their curious nature would include the things that their parents or elders would be undertaking, particularly the ones meant for a cause. In the case of a seven-year-old boy named Vinny Desautel, the child grew curious of why his mother (Amanda Azevedo) doing the hair of former cancer patients at an annual benefit event. Azevedo is a hair stylist and a volunteer for a local lymphoma foundation as she tries to lend a hand to the ones stricken with the “Big C”.

After being briefed on the how the disease changed lives, Vinny wanted to help out as well. That came in the form of growing his hair until the time comes he would decide to have it trimmed down. He let his hair grow out for the next two years that expectedly drew attention from other kids.

“He was mistaken for a girl many times,” said his father, Jason Desautels in a phone interview with The Washington Post. “He always took it like a champion.”

Rather than hit back at the kids who teased him, the good natured boy would simply take it all in stride. Aside from the long hair, inside was the same good-natured kid who wanted to do his part in helping out folks plagued with cancer.

His hair grew as much as 13-inches before eventually having it cut. His mom cut it and placed the cut hair in an envelope which was eventually sent to “Wigs for Kids”. It was a perfect day for Vinny and his mom until an initially believed allergy affecting Vinny’s right eye came about.

For weeks, the swelling was there which the parents assumed was a result of an infection. They visited the necessary specialists but more unusual complaints occurred. That included Vinny complaining about his knee and a swelling seen on his right hip.

Such eventually alarmed the parents, bringing Vinny to the emergency room where X-rays were done. It was here that they discovered a tumor in his pelvic bone. The following morning, Vinny was checked on by an ophthalmologist to check on the eye swelling. It turns out that the swelling was a result of another tumor too.

Vinny finds himself dealing with the very same thing that he asked his mother, a fight against Stage IV cancer. Despite the avalanche and harsh reality, the Desautels are keeping their heads up with the cruel twist of fate.

"As long as we are doing this as a family, we got this," said his mother via People Magazine.

The family has sought help for Vinny’s sake through GoFundMe for this ordeal with the parents needing to devote more time to assist Vinny. Azevedo, who is also six-months pregnant, was forced to stop work while Desautels is taking time off from his job.

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