Former President George H. W. Bush shaved his head this week to show solidarity with Patrick, the son of a member of his security detail who’s battling cancer.

Former President George H. W. Bush shaved his head Wednesday as a show of solidarity with a 2-year-old-boy who is battling leukemia.

The boy, named Patrick, is the son of one of the members of Bush’s security detail. He had lost most of his hair due to his cancer treatments, a Bush spokesman said.

Bush, 89, got the idea to shave his head to show his support after he noticed that several members of his Secret Service detail, known as the Bush Protective Division, had also shaved their heads in solidarity with Patrick.

A Bush spokesman also said that the former president had helped launch a website, www.patrickspals.org, to assist with Patrick’s medical costs.

The cause for Bush’s act is one close to his heart. The nation’s 41st president and his wife Barbara Bush lost a daughter, Pauline, to leukemia in 1953, when she was just 4 years old.

Bush made headlines earlier this month when he attended a White House ceremony honoring his “Points of Light” volunteer program.