Boy was being bullied for shaving his head to support sick grandpa, so principal shut down trolls with powerful move

Grandparents often play an important role in the formative years of their grandkids. While the elderly members do whatever they can to make the childhood of their grandchildren wonderful, there are times when the young ones also express their big emotions with thoughtful gestures. An 11-year-old boy named Jackson Johnston did something special for his beloved grandpa when they received heartbreaking news about his health, according to NBC News. Johnston had grown up enjoying playful times with his grandpa, like riding boats and playing sports together.

However, Johnston's world shattered when his grandpa, also lovingly known as Papa Rick, got diagnosed with stage 4 mantle cell lymphoma (MCL). Initially, Johnston felt hopeless but he was still determined to show that he was there for Papa Rick. So, the 6th grader pulled out the clippers and shaved his own head in solidarity with his grandpa. "He knew that Papa Rick was kind of down in the dumps about losing his hair. He is always styling his hair and has it looking nice, so he knew that Papa was bothered by that,” Johnston's mother Amber told the outlet. "He told his Papa, ‘You won’t be alone. You won’t be the only one losing your hair. You won’t be the only bald one in the family.'"

Johnston surprised Papa Rick and even suggested that they could start a new "club for shaved heads." “I’ve always wanted to be like him. Knowing that I made him feel good when he didn’t feel that well meant a lot to me,” Johnston mentioned to the news outlet. But his thoughtful gesture was met with crude remarks and taunts at Pekin Middle School, where he studied. Johnston got bullied and was called "baldy." Some even went as far as to remark that he looked like "he got cancer." Struggling through the day, Johnston went home from school and told his mom how he had a rough time because of his shaved head.

That was when Amber decided to reach out to the school's principal, Tim Hadley, to inform him about how her son was being bullied. She also disclosed the story behind his shaved head. “My phone buzzes and he (the principal) says, ‘Hey, do you still have your clippers?’ 'Yeah, sure do,' I told him, and he’s like, ‘Will you please send them to school with Jackson?'” Amber said, referring to the principal's surprising response. Johnston went to his school the following day with clippers but had no idea what was going to happen. At first, he thought that the principal would teach his bullies some lesson by rounding them up.

But Hadley gathered the entire school and in honor of Papa Rick, he asked Johnston to shave his head too. The powerful move left the bullies stunned. “I think we look at social media and see this perfect person behind it. That person could be broken and we project one image and some of us live another," Hadley told the news outlet. He added, "So exactly right before we pass that comment, make that judgment, let's take a serious look at what the other person is and try on their shoes for a little bit." Johnston was glad to get support from his classmates and community. Following the inspiring incident, he made a serious resolve. “So, I am going to keep my head shaved until he (the grandpa) goes into remission and if he doesn't finish the battle against cancer, I am going to keep my head shaved until I die,” Johnston declared out of his love for his grandfather.