For people with alopecia, hair is a complicated business. Alopecia is an autoimmune condition that causes hair to fall out. Sometimes it’s unnoticeable, but sometimes it falls out in patches, and when those patches connect, it can become quite noticeable. At that point, some people with alopecia often choose to shave their heads and embrace baldness, wear wigs, or both.
A powerful video from 2020 shows a woman having her head shaved by a man with the caption, “His girlfriend was struggling with her hair loss from alopecia. Get out the tissues.”
It’s clear from the get go that the woman is feeling emotional, occasionally wiping her eyes as he repeatedly runs the razor over her head. And it’s clear that he cares for her—you can see it in the way he tenderly holds her neck as he shaves.
About 42 seconds in, the video takes a majorly tear-jerking turn.
This is the moment that made people cry
Eva Barilaro, who posted the video to her TikTok account, wrote: “After months growing my hair for the first time in ten years, I had to ask my boyfriend to shave my head again.”
But then, just as he’s finishing the final touches, he turns the razor around, and oof. Seriously, you might want to grab a tissue as he begins to shave his own head in solidarity. Barilaro is immediately brought to tears at his show of love.
What is alopecia, exactly?
Alopecia is a fairly common condition, with an estimated 147 million people living with it across the world and around 7 million in the U.S. alone.
And yet it remains a deeply stigmatizing thing for people affected by it, who often have to describe their condition to strangers and navigate personal and professional challenges at work, in their dating lives, or just moving through public spaces. Alopecia can take many forms. It can be mild and slow, or it can result in large amounts of hair loss practically overnight. Even worse, there’s no cure for alopecia and the treatments can be maddening, sometimes resulting in complete improvements while others suffer near total hair loss permanently.
The internet was completely undone by this
The video has been viewed by more than 10 million people across TikTok and Twitter/X (where it later went viral after being reposted by another user) and drew heartfelt accolades from celebrities and normal people alike, including Ben Stiller:
“Sweet, selfless solidarity. This is what real love looks like. People on Twitter chimed in with their own alopecia experiences and stories about going through chemo for cancer and losing their hair,” one commenter wrote.
“Knew full well what was coming. It was the only logical option. Still couldn’t avoid the choked-up, lump-in-throat, gimme-a-damn-Kleenex thing,” said another.
“The hardest thing I ever had to do was shave my wife’s head during her battle with cancer. I shaved mine later that night and I’d do it again,” added another user.
“More tissues please. More,” wrote actress Kathy Griffin.
“Nothing like cleaning out the tear ducts in the early morning. What a video!”
“You are beautiful with or without hair! You WILL get through it! And keep that bf of yours he loves you and would do anything for you!”
As for Eva Barilaro, she hasn’t posted much to social media outside of her massively viral video. She did update her new fans and followers a few months later where she showed off how she arranges her scarf:
Many can relate to the emotional experience of shaving their hair off and the realization that they could be beautiful bald. The woman in this video rocks the shaved head. The boyfriend…well, a little hard to tell until he finishes the job, but his act of kindness and compassion is definitely beautiful.
This article was originally published six years ago. It has been updated.
