Alex and Austin Ford were an inseparable pair of identical twins. When they were kids, they did just about everything together. Then tragedy struck.
At only 11 years old, Alex was diagnosed with a brain stem tumor and lesions on his spine. He needed immediate care. The strong child endured 30 rounds of harsh radiation and chemotherapy treatments. Austin sat by Alex's side every step of the way.
Luckily, after a difficult fight, Alex beat his cancer and was able to return to his life as a teenager. Although this was good news, the side effects from his treatment began to affect him both physically and emotionally.
Alex had lost a ton of hair during radiation and he was left feeling self-conscious and embarrassed. During puberty, he noticed the hair on his head wasn't growing in like his twin brother's.
Alex was left with bald spots and thinning patches. Even worse, he didn't feel like an identical twin anymore, something he and Austin had always enjoyed.
In the video below posted on December 20, 2016, Alex explains that people would give him "a freak show kind of look."
Alex and Austin's parents searched for an answer. Then they found Dr. Glenn Charles, who had his own set of twin boys at home. He offered to perform a radical hair transplant procedure for free — if it could in fact be done.
"The reality is, you can only do that for an identical twin from another identical twin," he explains, saying that a stranger's DNA wouldn't grow in on its own. They decided to go forward with the revolutionary transplant, where a robotic arm implanted the hair follicles via remote control.
Fours years after the procedure, Alex has lost most of his own natural hair. The only hairs left on his head were transplanted from his twin brother's head during the transplant. Although Alex doesn't have a full head of hair, Austin's selfless donation made it possible for his twin to feel confident once again.
Alex declares, "As twins, you're pretty much bonded for life, but it even increased the love I have for him even further, just knowing that he wold be there for me."
Please SHARE this twin brother's bold generosity if you would do the same for your own sibling!
Image Source: Flickr / Christina Xu
