Tim McGraw is helping one Florida dad embrace the meaning of his hit “Live Like You Were Dying.”
When Michael Hugo, 37, was diagnosed with stage 4 glioblastoma last April, he stayed hopeful — but knew that, statistically speaking, there was a chance he wouldn’t be there to celebrate with his two young daughters on their eventual wedding days.
With that in mind, he issued a social media plea that he hoped would reach McGraw: he wanted to record a duet of the country star’s 2006 song “My Little Girl” to play when his daughters Bridget, 6, and Brooke, 7, get married.
“One of my dreams is to be with my little girls for their wedding and be there dancing with him,” Hugo said in the original video, which was shared on Feb. 9. “But statistically, it’s going to be tough. And I’m going to fight hard to get there, but one of my dreams or goals… is to do a duet [of] ‘My Little Girl’ with Tim McGraw and do a little video that we could play during their wedding.”
He continued: “So if I’m there, it’d be awesome because it’s a beautiful song. And if I’m not there, then at least I can be part of that wonderful day that I hope happens, hope comes.”
Hugo’s request quickly went viral, and soon, he and his wife Vanessa, mom Lori and two daughters were invited out to Nashville by McGraw himself.
On Instagram, the “Humble and Kind” singer, 55, shared a video of him spending time with the Hugos, and wrote that they were “gonna make this happen.”
“Thanx to everyone who shared Mike Hugo’s video on social media and tagged me in the comments,” he captioned the post. “So glad we were able to actually get together in person, meet this amazing family, and make it happen! Mike is saving the videos for his daughters’ future weddings… what a special thing to be a part of.”
Vanessa Hugo explained in a Facebook post that the video had reached the head of the Tug McGraw Foundation, named after the country star’s father Tug McGraw, who died of glioblastoma in 2004.
“Tim’s amazing management team arranged for a camera crew to film Michael dancing onstage at the Grand Ole Opry with our daughters, and also with his mom,” she wrote, noting that her husband even got vocal coaching for the big day. “They then set up a special meeting for Michael and Tim to sing together — ‘My Little Girl’ for our girls, and ‘I Called Mama’ for Lori. The footage will be compiled into a video tribute for our family to keep.”
Vanessa went on to thank everyone involved in the special event, including McGraw, whom she called “an amazing family man and #girldad, just like Michael.” McGraw is dad to daughters Gracie, 25, Maggie, 24, and Audrey, 21, with wife Faith Hill.
“You make the kind of music that touches people’s hearts and reminds them of what’s important,” Vanessa wrote.
In his initial video, Michael Hugo said that the median survival rate for his “very aggressive” type of brain cancer is 14 months, and that he’s been treating his tumor with Optune, an FDA-approved medical device he wears on his head to slow the spread.
“I’m doing well now,” he said. “I’m going through chemo right now, but we live scan to scan. Every 30, 60 days, we know that something could pop up and could go downhill fast.”
Hugo said that he’s been trying to dole out as many life lessons as he can to his daughters that they can spread over the next few decades, and has written them birthday cards for their 21st birthdays.
“[I try to] let them know I love them,” he said.