If You Ever Doubted the Power of Social Media, You Won’t when You Hear This Dying Man’s Tale
If you tweet it, they will come, and when one man created a hashtag to gather support for his dying father, they came exponentially.
After discovering his 63-year-old father, Brian Curtis, had lung cancer with only six months to live, Brandon Curtis, 29, launched a campaign across social media to bring happiness and inspiration to his dad's final days.
He created the hashtag #SkyBluePink, his father's favorite color, which can be found only in the sunrise and sunset, and asked people to post a note, card or photo in Brian's honor.
In a week, Brian received over 500 messages from around the world. A few months later, there were 2,700.
"It's making my dad cry with pride and disbelief," Brandon told Mashable. "This is incredible."
Brandon spread the imagery onto the walls surrounding his father's bed, creating a gallery of photos that truly resembled the rise and fall of the sun in the sky.
By the time of his passing, more than 3,500 #SkyBluePink cards, paintings, photos and elementary school art projects from 105 countries covered Brian's room at the hospice.
With his family by his side and thoughts of the world around him, he peacefully passed away in August. Brandon posted a note of gratitude on Facebook to the #SkyBluePink community.
Even now, the messages continue…
