WICHITA, KS (AP/WCMH) – The father of a Kansas boy who was self-conscious about scarring following brain cancer surgery has got a tattoo that resembles his son’s scar on the side of his head.

Josh Marshall tells ABC News that 8-year-old Gabriel was left with a large horseshoe scar above his right ear after undergoing surgery to remove a brain tumor.

“I didn’t like him calling himself a monster, because to me he’s beautiful,” father Marshall told KWCH.

Last August, Marshall got a tattoo to match, telling his son, “if people want to stare at you, then they can stare at both of us.”

A photo of the pair took first place in the St. Baldrick’s Foundation’s #BestBaldDad competition on Father’s Day.

Marshall says Gabriel is doing well. He says a small tumor remains but that it hasn’t grown.What others are clicking on: