”Animal Hero Kids Rock. The good news is we can all help animals in need”
Animal Hero Kids founder, Susan Hargreaves recalls her dad and former bouncer for the Beatles in Liverpool.
Imagine a larger-than-life, red bearded, blue-eyed, scouser. Liverpool is known for having a high percentage of Irish descendants, the Liverpool kiss (a headbutt to the nose) and the birthplace of the Beatles at the Cavern Club. Little did I know when I was a toddler that my Dad was the bouncer for what would be the most successful, global band in the world.
Mike Brian Hargreaves was a big-hearted rescuer of those in need and always ready to spring into action. Whether at an SOS call at 3 a.m. from a 16-year-old daughter who was in danger from a motorcycle gang member three hours’ drive away-that’s a longer story than can be told here. My dad showed up complete with a hand grenade and armed ready to take on the entire gang, if needed. He collected me from a kind stranger’s basement
When I was 12 years old he brought home a hitchhiker, gave him a good meal and a safe night’s sleep, money and a packed lunch with a ride to his next stop the next day. He was -an astute judge of character and knew it was safe to help this teen and bring him home.
You never know at what point you will meet someone in their life and what they’re going through, he always told me at a young age.
When I called Dad and asked if a 15-year-old teen who had been harmed and was about to go into a crowded foster group home, with locks on the kitchen cupboards. I asked him if she could stay for a while with him and his wife Pauline until I had my house ready for her, without hesitation he said yes.
I hit the Dad jackpot I would always say to my Dad, Mike Brian Hargreaves, a person who demonstrated through kind, brave action, life’s most important lessons.he passed away in Orlando May 21, 2026. His example had a definite effect on my founding of Animal Hero Kids, a global empathy fostering charity.
When Dad celebrated his ninetieth birthday last October he shone like a ray of Florida sunshine- the state he lived in-with his signature humor and contagious happiness, embodying to
his light and life lessons I will never forget.
See her dad’s message to Paul McCartney here, watch till the end to see Santa’s message, too.
