Photo of father comforting sick son in shower goes viral

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Wednesday, May 18, 2016
Father Son Shower Picture
Moving photo of dad cradling sick son in the shower goes viral

A powerful picture of a father cradling his sick son in the shower went viral, despite being removed by Facebook. Heather Whitten snapped the photo of her husband, Thomas with their son, Fox and posted it on Facebook.

All night the almost 1-year-old vomited and had diarrhea, according to the Facebook post. In an attempt to soothe and clean him, the child's father stripped down and sat in the shower with him for two hours.

"Fox would be hospitalized that night for salmonella poisoning. It was a powerful moment for us as parents," wrote Heather Whitten. "As I sat in the shower with the two of them I was just overwhelmed with the scene in front of me. This man. This husband and partner and father. He was so patient and so loving and so strong with our tiny son in his lap."

Although Heather Whitten felt like she was witnessing a special moment for them as parents, people were quick to comment on the nudity in the photo.

"I was taken aback by how many people missed the story or didn't even look past the nudity to find the story," she wrote.

She said Facebook removed the photo for apparently violating its photograph rules, but she has a message for her critics.

"You may never share images of your family like I do. But, that doesn't give you the right to silence my voice," she wrote. "There is nothing sexual or exploitative about this image. There aren't even any 'private parts' showing."

Thousands of people on Facebook supported Heather Whitten and she re-posted the picture which has been shared more than 32,000 times and received more than 139,000 likes.

"I hope that one day there will be a platform that not only allows this kind of freedom for families and artists like my own... but, welcomes them without fear," she wrote.