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Man in wheelchair couldn’t access a barbershop — so the barber took the shop outside

Victor Burgos didn't think twice about going outside to cut a client's hair because his shop isn't wheelchair-accessible. Facebook

Getting a haircut is a relatively routine endeavour for most people. But for those who are in a wheelchair, it can be more like an obstacle.

A man in Webster, N.Y., was recently trying to get to an appointment at a barbershop. From the sidewalk outside the establishment, he called to book a spot. The only problem was that the man was in a wheelchair and the barbershop, being housed in an old building, wasn’t wheelchair-accessible.

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But that didn’t stop Victor Burgos, a barber at Joe’s Upscale Barber Shop, from taking matters into his own hands. After determining with this co-workers that it would be too difficult to transport the man into the shop, Burgos decided to take the shop to him on the sidewalk.

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“We weren’t going to be able to get this heavy-duty thing in here so I took my cordless barber clippers, trimmers, shavers, and sheers, straight blade, comb — everything I need to give him the same haircut that he’d get if he came inside,” Burgos told Inside Edition.

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Burgos, who was described by boss Joe Cocozza as “one of our busiest barbers,” didn’t think twice before going outside to help his client. Especially since he looked like he really needed a haircut.

“It looked like he hadn’t had a haircut in about a month. It was pretty shaggy [and] I know how good it feels to get that weight off of you. I could tell that he’s never had a good experience. I could tell without even asking him, and I just wanted to change it for him.”

The man was so pleased with the result of his haircut that he even had his aide go there for a trim.

“I’ve done some pretty weird haircuts,” Burgos said. “In hospitals and different wedding situations…. [but I’ve] never done anybody outside on the sidewalk.”
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READ MORE: Man pushes disabled woman all the way home after her wheelchair engine burned out

The heart-warming story made its way through nearby Rochester, N.Y., and people were so taken with Burgos’ selfless act and the circumstances around it, that the community has enacted fundraising efforts to get the barbershop a wheelchair ramp.

In a Facebook post written after the event, Cocozza, who owns the shop, wrote: “I couldn’t be happier when I was told this story. I couldn’t be happier to work and know a person of such kind nature as Victor. I’m proud to know that even when I’m not around our staff will go out of their way.”

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