October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and you may see more people with shaved heads at one local hospital.

Jesus Eleazar Villarreal is a surgeon general at Mission Regional Medical Center. He's been helping save lives at the hospital for a decade.

This year, he wanted to take a bold step to help those battling breast cancer.

"One aspect of it is certainly the surgical medical aspect of it, but then there's the other aspect of it, the spiritual, the moral support," Villarreal said.

It started with a simple idea and soon became a team effort.

Nine team members at Mission Regional joined the cause, one shaved head at a time.

"Dr. Riariel is doing it. I go, 'well, if he does, I can do it, too' you know, it doesn't hurt. Patients go through a lot more than us," Certified Surgical First Assistant Joe Carrillo said.

For some of the staff, being a part of the cause was something deeply personal.

"The first person that we lost was my sister-in-law eight years ago. So yeah, you know it's very emotional stress," Radiology Technologist Francisco Moreno said.

Mission Regional Medical Center hopes their gesture inspires others to join the 16th annual Mission Pink Walk.

It helps fund free mammograms for uninsured women over the age of 40 in the Rio Grande Valley.

"There's a significant stigma of fear of having this diagnosis and for that reason, a lot of patients may decide not to seek help until it's too late," Villarreal said.

But together, this team believes change starts with small, human acts of compassion.

"Let's take it a step further, and you know this is not easy for a lot of men," Villarreal said.

The 5K Run and Walk is happening on Saturday, October 11 at 7 a.m. at Mission Regional Medical Center.

Doctors and staff hope a simple gesture - like losing their hair for a couple of weeks - can help raise awareness and show Valley women they're not in this fight alone.

According to the American Cancer Society, breast cancer is the most common type of cancer in women in the United States.

This year alone, there were more than 300,000 new diagnosed cases. On average, more than 42,000 women will die from breast cancer a year.

Watch the video above for the full story.