X-ray technology makes Laura look beautiful as she struggles with hair loss during chemo.

This story is part of my Unsung Heroes series, from The Hidden Brain, about people whose kindness leaves a lasting impression on someone else.

In the year In 2017, Laura Holmes Haddad was undergoing chemotherapy for stage four breast cancer. She was 37 and had two young children. One spring day in March, she went for an X-ray at a large hospital in San Francisco. She already had so much that the routine was so routine.

“I was experiencing the anonymity of being treated as just a medical record number, shivering in a white and blue hospital gown and blue hospital socks,” Holmes Haddad said.

Holmes was still getting used to Haddad not having any hair. It made her incredibly self-aware. To further comfort herself, she wears a headscarf to cover her bald head. But that day, she had to remove her headscarf for an X-ray.

“I was very angry and worried about going bald in front of a stranger,” Holmes Haddad said.

/ Laura Holmes Haddad

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Laura Holmes Haddad

But the stranger was bald. He was an X-ray technician with blue eyes and what Holmes Haddad described as “a melodious Irish accent.”

“He just created kindness,” said Holmes Haddad. “I’m not sure what happened to me, but I was lying on my back waiting for the X-ray and holding my scarf, I said. [him] People staring at me and how upset I was and with cancer I wasn’t ready for that.

The man listened and looked straight into Holmes Haddad’s eyes and said something that took her breath away: “They’re looking at you because you’re beautiful.”

“It was spoken with forgiveness and sincerity, and it remains with me today, as I remain in forgiveness.”

She can’t remember his name, but Holmes said she will always remember how Haddad made her feel in that moment.

“His inner kindness that day made a terrible cancer patient feel, well… beautiful.”

My Unsung Hero is a podcast – new episodes are released every Tuesday. To share your unsung hero story with the Hidden Brain team, record an audio note on your phone and send it to myunsunghero@hiddenbrain.org.

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