After the Death of His Baby Son, Grieving Father Makes Heartbreaking Request for Mall Santa

"I'm sharing this to remind us all that Christmastime is unbelievably hard for some families," the Santa wrote

Photo: Caleb Sigmon/Facebook

Kyle Daniel’s son Hayden died last year from a congenital heart defect.

This year will be the first Christmas without his son, and so he approached Athens, Georgia man, Caleb Ryan Sigmon – playing Santa at a mall – with a particularly heartbreaking request: He wanted a picture of Hayden and Santa to give to his wife Sasha.

Sigmon recounted the event in a Facebook post:

“A man walked in today holding something in his arms. ‘I have a request,’ he said, turning around this picture frame. He took a moment. ‘My son passed away, last year.’ He choked up and couldn’t finish his sentence. The entire photo set was silent.”

“I said, ‘Absolutely.’ Without anyone saying anything, he handed me the frame and I placed it on my knee. In the photo, I could see on the little boy’s armband that his first name was Hayden. I didn’t ask any questions, but I am guessing that this is his first photo with Santa. The camera snap was the only sound I could hear through the entire mall.”

Sigmon and the photo team gave Daniel his photo package for free. “He grabbed my hand and pulled me in and hugged me, then turned around and left,” Sigmon recounted.

“I’m sharing this to remind us all that Christmastime is unbelievably hard for some families,” he concluded. “Pray for the brokenhearted. Smile at people. Just be kind. Love one another.”