Never underestimate the kindness of strangers – as this grieving father found out for himself.
Reddit user Steffel07 posted an image of his late baby daughter to the site, explaining she had spent all of her short life in hospital, covered in medical tubes.
He wrote: “Photoshop request: My daughter recently passed away after a long battle in a children’s hospital.
“Since she was in hospital her whole life we were never able to get a photo without all her tubes. Can someone remove the tubes from this photo?”
The good denizens of Reddit set to work as Steffel07 revealed Sophia had been just six-weeks-old when she lost her fight for life at Cincinnati’s Children’s Hospital.
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He said: “She had a hepatic hemangioma in her liver. She was on the waiting list for her liver when she passed from complications involving the pressure on her abdomen due to the hemangioma.”
Here is what they came up with:
(Story continues after photos)
A grateful Steffel07 wrote: “This is really amazing. Everyone you have made my day. All I wanted was a nice picture. What I received was a lot of love and support from a bunch of strangers.
“Along with a lot of great photos, drawings and paintings. Thanks everyone!”
Speaking to the Huffington Post via email, he added: “I was emotionally taken back by all the support and personal messages from families who shared similar grief.”
The family say they will keep the altered images close to their hearts: “Although we cherish her real photos because that’s how she was.”
RIP Sophia.