After a decade of growing long dreadlocks, one dad decided to shave his head for a heartwarming reason – to ensure his daughter undergoing chemo felt more confident.
“She can sense when we’re down, so we try to stay as positive as we can, so we can keep her spirits up,” 32 year-old Kevin Stokes said.
One-year-old, Nova Stokes, is a bright, bubbly little girl, smiling and dancing all around, so when her parents Nicoletta and Kevin noticed something was off, they rushed her to the hospital right away.
Never did they expect the diagnosis of stage 4 high-risk neuroblastoma cancer.
“It was really a shock to us because we knew she wasn’t feeling well when we took her to the emergency room,” Kevin Stokes told Good Morning America. “I think cancer was really the last thing on our minds when we spoke with the doctors.”
They wanted to give Nova the best shot they could, so the family packed their bags to New York for the number one neuroblastoma treatment center, making the constant commute for their child.
After only the first round of chemotherapy Nova’s hair began to fall out, and four rounds later, all her hair was completely gone.
“It happened so fast. Like, it honestly happened in a span of a day. It started to fall out the previous night, and then the next day, it was just like over half her head was bald, so we went and just cut the rest,” Nicolette recalled.
In efforts to support his daughter, Kevin decided to cut and shave the dreadlocks that had been growing out for over a decade. He knew that the dreadlocks meant quite a bit to him, but he also knew that going on without them was the right thing to do.
“I decided that I would cut my hair to support her and also bring awareness to neuroblastoma,” Kevin explained.
“Because everybody always asks me, ‘Why did you cut your hair? Why did you cut your hair?’ and that gives me a chance to explain to them what we’re going through and her diagnosis and her specific cancer.”
Not only did it help bring awareness to neuroblastoma cancer, but it also brought a smile to young Nova’s face when she saw her father’s newly bald head.
“You could tell she knew the difference because she kind of looked at me funny and then she started rubbing my head and slapping it and stuff like that, so yeah, I did that for her,” Kevin said.
Even through the constant treatment, Nova’s sparkling smile and dazzling dance moves continue to light the way for a positive path.
“She’s definitely been keeping us going as well,” Nicolette said. “Every day she’s smiling and playing and as long as we can see her doing that, we’re good.”
From raising awareness, to research and treatment, the Stokes family is determined to do what they can for Nova, giving her the best shot possible, while also making her feel quite confident doing it.
