#CHDAWARENESS We were a little apprehensive to post this but I feel it's important. Carter took his bandages off this...Posted by Mark Gentle on Saturday, April 11, 2015

After undergoing five open-heart surgeries by the age of seven, Carter Gentle has had his share of battle wounds. But after his last procedure—an emergency surgery to fix the pacemaker he's had since he was a newborn—he started to feel defeated by his scars.

When he glanced in the mirror, he began to cry.

"He just started sobbing. He said, 'People are going to think I'm ugly. My scars look horrible," his dad, country singer Mark Gentle, told Today. "As a parent, it just tears your heart out. As much as that kid's been through, the last thing I ever want him to worry about is scars."

To help make Carter feel more confident, Mark posted a photo of his brave little boy's chest on Facebook.

"We told him that his scars are beautiful and make him look like a superhero. How many likes can Carter get for his bravery?" Mark wrote in the post.

In the first day, Carter's picture received 200,000 likes. Mark turned up the notification noise on his phone so that every time someone liked the picture, Carter would be able to hear the supportive beep.

"He would look at me with these big eyes each time and say, 'Dad, is that for me again?"

"His scars are what makes him, him. They show everybody what he's overcome and that he was stronger than the disease that tried to kill him. I've been able to explain to him that there's a lot of people that have a lot of scars, and that you need to be proud of your scars," said Mark.

Now the post has over one million likes, each one representing a stranger who thinks that Carter's scars are like badges of honor.

Mark, who lives with Carter and the rest of his family in Maine, has also released a song in support of Carter and other children with CHD.

This content is imported from YouTube. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.

Brie Schwartz Deputy Editor, Oprahmag.com As deputy editor, Brie oversees OprahMag.com's lifestyle content including beauty, style, health, and relationships.

This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io