Photo: Getty Images
Tim McGraw is stepping up to help a Florida father battling stage 4 cancer after he emotionally shared his story with a local TV station.
Michael Hugo, 37, was diagnosed with stage 4 glioblastoma in April 2022, he told ABC affiliate WPBF 25 News, based in West Palm Beach, Florida. Knowing the statistics of his terminal brain cancer, Hugo realizes that it isnāt likely heāll get to live out one of his dreams: dancing with his daughters at their weddings. Hugo and his wife, Vanessa, married more than 10 years ago, and have two young daughters, ages 6 and 7, per WPBF.
āHe wrote that song, āLive Like You Were Dying,ā right, and man, it hits me hard,ā Hugo told the station, referencing McGrawās early 2000s song. His voice broke as he said, āone of my dreams is to be with my little girls for their wedding, and be there with a dance, dancing with them. ā¦(I want) to do a duet with āMy Little Girlā with Tim McGraw, and do a little video, just an iPhone video, that we could play during their wedding.ā
Luckily, enough people shared Hugoās story on social media to bring it to McGrawās attention. McGraw, who lost his own father to brain cancer and is a father of three daughters, shared a clip of Hugoās WPBF story on his social media channels.
āThanx to everyone who shared Mike Hugoās video on social media and tagged me in the comments,ā McGraw wrote in his caption. āSo glad we were able to actually get together in person, meet this amazing family, and make it happen! Mike is saving the videos for his daughtersā future weddings... what a special thing to be a part of.ā
The clip McGraw shared included an update in addition to Hugoās interview. The country superstar stood with Hugo and his family, saying: āHi guys! Iām here with the Hugo family. Iām glad weāre all here together, and weāre gonna make this happen. Weāre gonna work this out.ā
āI wanna be here now, and I wanna make those memories now,ā Hugo said, per WPBF, āand I want them to know that their dad loves them.ā