George H.W. Bush shaves head in solidarity with cancer-stricken child

What did you expect from a guy who didn't hesitate to celebrate his 85th birthday with a parachute jump?

Former President George H.W. Bush shaved his head this week in solidarity with the leukemia-stricken 2-year-old son of a member of his security detail. Little Patrick — seen in one of the pictures provided by Bush's office clutching toy cars as he sits on the smiling former commander in chief's lap — started losing his hair because of his cancer treatment.

Bush, 89, shaved his head after learning that many members of his security detail had done so to support Patrick and his father, Jon (the family asked to withhold their last name).
Security detail members also created a website, www.patrickspals.org, to help defray medical costs. They also raised funds with a 50-mile motorcycle ride through Maine, followed by a lunch and silent auction.

“Once President and Mrs. Bush learned of this 'Patrick's Pals' effort, they made a donation and President Bush volunteered to shave his head as well,” the former president’s office said in a statement. “The Bushes lost their second child, Robin, to leukemia 60 years ago this October at the age of four.”

The photographs were taken July 24 at the Bush's Kennebunkport, Maine, family compound, known as Walker's Point.