![\"\u201cWe](\"https:\/\/static.toiimg.com\/thumb\/msid-131915583,imgsize-1117541,width-400,height-225,resizemode-4\/left-father-and-son-leon-and-johnny-hamui-in-december-2025-right-leon-and-johnny-hamui-in-1999-photo-credit-people.jpg\" "\\"Father")
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nEvery Father’s Day brings its own rituals. Some sons gift their dads. Some gather around dining tables. Some revisit old photographs and old memories. For Leon Hamui and his son Johnny, this Father’s Day carried something they never imagined they would share: matching scars across their chests.The father and son from Mexico City underwent open-heart surgeries a year apart. The surgeries were unrelated. Yet both operations were performed by the same surgeon at the Cleveland Clinic. Today, as they prepare for the Sydney Marathon together, those scars have become a reminder of survival, family and the kind of bond that grows stronger after facing fear together. \u201cI love that it’s there,\u201d Johnny says. \u201cIt’s a reminder that we got through it. Together.\u201d<\/p>\n 15 Jun 2026 | 12:57<\/p>\n According to PEOPLE, this Father’s Day is particularly emotional for the Hamui family because it marks the first time father and son are celebrating not just recovery, but a shared journey through serious heart conditions.<\/p>\n Long before hospitals, surgeries and recovery rooms entered his life, Leon Hamui was a passionate athlete. The 64-year-old from Mexico City loved marathons and tennis. Running was not just exercise for him. It was part of his identity. However, nearly two decades ago, something began to feel wrong. Leon started experiencing fainting spells while running. Doctors advised surgery, but he was hesitant. According to PEOPLE, Leon sought a second opinion and eventually travelled to the Cleveland Clinic in 2008. Doctors discovered something different.\u201cHe was born with his coronary arteries in the wrong position,\u201d Dr. Eric Roselli, Chief of Adult Cardiac Surgery at the Cleveland Clinic, told PEOPLE. Leon underwent a minimally invasive procedure and returned to his active life.Leon tells PEOPLE, \u201cI had no problems with my heart until about three years ago.\u201d For nearly 15 years, life returned to normal. Then another diagnosis arrived. Doctors discovered that Leon had a bulge in the body’s main artery that can become life-threatening if it tears. In November 2024, Dr. Roselli performed open-heart surgery on Leon. What followed became a family decision.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Johnny Hamui, Dr. Eric Roselli and Leon Hamui in May 2026 (Photo Credit: PEOPLE)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n When Leon underwent surgery, his entire family travelled to Cleveland. His wife, daughters and son Johnny stayed beside him. Johnny still remembers the conversation that changed everything.\u201cThe whole family traveled to Cleveland Clinic: my three sisters, my mom and myself. My dad loves marathons and one of my sisters said, ‘You know what? After the surgery, we’re going to run a marathon with you, Dad,’ \u201d Johnny recalls. For many members of the family, marathons had always seemed impossible. \u201cWe’d always been like, ‘No, I’m never doing that. That’s for crazy people.’ But we decided: We’re going to do it as a family.\u201d\u201cI asked Dr. Roselli to please allow me to run or jog just one more marathon in my life,\u201d Leon says. According to PEOPLE, after surgery Dr. Roselli gave him permission to complete one final marathon. The family chose the Sydney Marathon scheduled for August 2026. Within months, Leon returned to running. The family even created a running club called “Corazone de Leon,” meaning “Heart of the Lion.” His wife, daughters, son and their spouses all began training.What nobody knew then was that another medical crisis was already approaching.<\/p>\n Johnny Hamui was only 36 years old. He was healthy, active and had been a highly ranked junior tennis player. Nothing suggested that his heart was in danger. According to PEOPLE, his symptoms began with something that seemed ordinary: heartburn. Johnny felt dizzy. He even fainted. After that, he visited a gastrointestinal doctor in Mexico City, believing the problem was related to his stomach. \u201cThey said it was nothing,\u201d Leon says.Doctors initially suspected dehydration or an infection. But the discomfort continued. A CT scan performed for his stomach unexpectedly revealed fluid around his heart. \u201cThe heart was at the top of the image; I wasn’t even there for that,\u201d Johnny told PEOPLE.Further tests, including an echocardiogram and MRI, led to a devastating diagnosis: cardiac angiosarcoma, an extremely rare cancer affecting the heart.\u201cIt was catastrophic,\u201d Leon says. \u201cJohnny’s the light of my life. We were extremely extremely scared. It was horrible.\u201d Leon had only recently recovered from his own surgery. Now he was watching his son face a life-threatening illness.<\/p>\n Leon remembered something from his own recovery. The surgeon who had treated him had once shared his personal number. After a family visit to Cleveland, Dr. Roselli had asked Leon to send him a photograph they had taken together. Leon never imagined he would need to contact him again.According to PEOPLE, after Johnny’s diagnosis, Leon reached out to Dr. Roselli and asked where his son should receive treatment. What happened next surprised him. Dr. Roselli was also a specialist in the rare heart cancer Johnny had developed. The doctor asked to see the MRI images. \u201cWhen he saw them, he said, ‘Bring him over,’ \u201d Leon recalls. Surgery was scheduled for the following week in Cleveland.For Johnny, who had a four-year-old daughter and a newborn son at home, the diagnosis was frightening. Yet he found comfort in an unexpected place. Having watched his father go through open-heart surgery just a year earlier, he already knew what recovery looked like.\u201cIt made all the difference in the world knowing what to expect,\u201d Johnny says.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n From left: Dr. Serge Harb, Leon Hamui, Johnny Hamui in December 2025. (Photo Credit: PEOPLE)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n In December 2025, exactly one year after operating on Leon, Dr. Roselli performed open-heart surgery on Johnny. The operation was complex. \u201cI basically had to cut out about a quarter of his heart to get the tumor,\u201d Dr. Roselli says. \u201cThe tumor was wrapped around one of the main coronary arteries; it had to be rebuilt.\u201dAccording to PEOPLE, the surgery was successful. \u201cEverything went beautifully,\u201d Dr. Roselli says. For Leon, there is no hesitation when he speaks about the surgeon. \u201cDr. Roselli, he’s our hero.\u201d Johnny later returned to Mexico and underwent four rounds of chemotherapy over three months.Slowly, recovery began. Today, he says he continues to feel stronger. \u201cI’m feeling great,\u201d Johnny says.\u201cI feel that I’m still on an upward track. I feel like there’s still a few more weeks to go until I feel perfectly normal.\u201d He has returned to playing tennis. Father and son also participated in a race supporting cancer awareness earlier this year. \u201cWe haven’t stopped celebrating,\u201d Leon says.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Leon and Johnny Hamui competing in a race to stop cancer together in Mexico in February 2026. (Photo Credit: PEOPLE)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n The father who once worried about his own heart now stood beside his son during his recovery. The son who once watched his father return from surgery now experienced the same journey himself. Their matching scars have become symbols of that shared experience. Leon remains uncomfortable showing his scar. \u201cI don’t show it,\u201d he says. The son Johnny, feels differently. He often leaves his shirts unbuttoned. For him, the scar represents survival. More importantly, it represents connection.The Sydney Marathon now carries a meaning the family never anticipated. It was originally meant to celebrate Leon’s recovery. Today it has become something bigger.\u201cAt first, it was to celebrate my recovery,\u201d Leon says. \u201cBut now it’s for him. It’s for all of us.\u201d And this Father’s Day, perhaps the most meaningful gift between father and son is not the marathon waiting ahead, or the races they have already completed. It is the quiet understanding that sometimes parents and children save each other in ways no one expects. As Johnny says, looking at the scar that now mirrors his father’s: \u201cI love that it’s there. It’s a reminder that we got through it. Together.\u201d<\/div>\nIs spending lakhs on a child\u2019s birthday party reasonable or insane?<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
A father who always kept moving
<\/h2>\n<\/p>\nA marathon promise made beside a hospital bed
<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n![\"Johnny](\"https:\/\/static.toiimg.com\/photo\/msid-131915603\/johnny-hamui-dr-eric-roselli-and-leon-hamui-in-may-2026-photo-credit-people.jpg\" "\\"Johnny")
<\/p>\nA son’s symptoms that seemed harmless
<\/h2>\n<\/p>\nThe text message that changed everything
<\/h2>\n<\/p>\nThe second surgery
<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n![\"From](\"https:\/\/static.toiimg.com\/photo\/msid-131915632\/from-left-dr-serge-harb-leon-hamui-johnny-hamui-in-december-2025-photo-credit-people.jpg\" "\\"From")
<\/p>\nThe scars they now share
<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n![\"Leon](\"https:\/\/static.toiimg.com\/photo\/msid-131915656\/leon-and-johnny-hamui-competing-in-a-race-to-stop-cancer-together-in-mexico-in-february-2026-photo-credit-people.jpg\" "\\"Leon")
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