The Barber’s Chair
Freddy Niblack has been a barber for more than 30 years and opened his own shop, Garage 17 Barbershop in Brownsburg, in the spring of 2023.
He quickly saw a need in the community and began offering a specific day once per month to provide free haircuts for children and adults with special needs.
However, just a year later, as his business was getting off the ground, Niblack began feeling sick.
In April 2024, he was diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma, a skin cancer often successfully treated but one that can potentially spread, leading to much lower success rates.
At the time, Niblack didn’t tell anyone.
He had to work. He didn’t want to worry “his kids,” as he calls the youth with special needs who frequent the shop. And after all, doctors were positive — until they weren’t.
In July 2024, Niblack was in so much pain he canceled his appointments and called his doctor. He went to the emergency room and was in surgery within the hour.
“They had to do an emergency colostomy and wanted to start chemo immediately,” Niblack says. “It was just like, we’re going to do our best to save your life, but do you have your end-of-life affairs in order? It was panic mode, and the journey began.”
Niblack called in reinforcements. He had previously worked for and befriended Lainey Bibler, owner of Dappered Man, and Gina Warren, owner of Rock Hurst Barber Shop, both of Brownsburg.
Bibler worked half days at her own shop and then half days at Garage 17. Warren filled in on days Bibler was unavailable.
“Lainey and Gina tag-teamed it for six or seven months. I had a 22-year-old guy, Kaleb Gentry, just out of school, and he had the shop thrown in his lap,” Niblack says. “Kaleb was the first barber I hired as a shop manager, and he made sure everything was clean and the bills were taken care of.”
In fact, Gentry supported him throughout his journey and even did things Niblack was unaware of until he returned to the shop.
“Kaleb took me to two surgeries, he brought lunch many times, and he took money out of his own pocket to purchase items needed for the shop,” Niblack says. “He said, ‘The shop needed it, and I’m part of the shop.’ I will never forget that.”
In October of that same year, Niblack said things were getting worse. Chemo wasn’t working. He was doing radiation five days per week, and doctors suggested he begin expensive immunotherapy treatments. By the day before Thanksgiving, Niblack was losing hope. He was advised to make his final plans.
From there, things were a whirlwind.
Stuck in a bed, in incredible pain and unable to work, Niblack thought his life was over until a young man, Leland Riggs — country musician Levi Riggs’ son — needed a haircut for his birthday.
“I saw tears running down Leland’s face and how hurt he was, and something inside of me just snapped. I was so, so tired, but I wasn’t going to leave my kids,” Niblack says. “Leland said, ‘God is going to fix you.’”
He got up and cut Leland’s hair and later recalls Levi Riggs sitting in the barber’s chair during the holidays of 2024, with little Leland eating a cheeseburger nearby. Levi began singing Christmas songs, a moment Niblack says he will never forget.
“I wasn’t feeling Christmas right then,” Niblack says. “I wasn’t feeling anything. There has to be a better word than ‘hope,’ but I just knew we were going to do this.”
Leland was right.
In December 2024, after moving forward with immunotherapy, Niblack underwent another exam to evaluate his progress.
Miraculously, doctors told him the tumors were gone. He was in remission.
“I told them I wanted the colostomy reversed right away. I wanted my life back, and I wanted to get back to my [barber] chair,” Niblack says.
It took time to regain his strength, and Niblack began working a few hours per day. He spent 2025 in recovery mode but, over time, made his way back to where he was meant to be — at Garage 17.
Looking back, Niblack said there were so many people — an entire community — that rallied around him.
“Ben Lacey, Brownsburg Town Council president, and Adam Brauman are my landlords, and from the beginning they made it very clear they would do whatever I needed,” Niblack says. “They reduced my shop rent. They offered to help in any way they could. At no point did they say, ‘We’re going to have to shut this down.’”
“Jordan McHugh, owner of Manscapes in Brownsburg, did a car show fundraiser for me and handed me two checks — one from the car show and another from a special she did at the shop where part of the proceeds went to me,” he says. “Jordan, Lainey and Gina — these ladies are my competition, and now they are my backbone.”
The Brownsburg Town Council issued a proclamation for Niblack and waived town fees at a local park for a large fundraiser held in support of him.
Rose Promotions in Brownsburg made T-shirts and donated the proceeds to Niblack.
The American Legion Post 331 donated funds to ensure youth with special needs continued receiving free haircuts, and Mandy Johnson of Mandy’s Ice Cream continued dropping off gift cards for their post-appointment reward.
“Kids with special needs thrive on consistency, and after they get their haircut at Garage 17, they go down to Mandy’s and get a free ice cream,” Niblack says. “Even though I wasn’t there, she kept dropping off gift cards for the kids. Mandy has to pay for that ice cream. She’s a small business owner, too. It was like the town wanted to continue what I started, and an entire community wrapped their arms around me and didn’t let go.”
More of his “kids” showed their support as well. Lake Patterson stopped by to offer words of encouragement. Logan Davis sweeps Niblack’s shop every Friday. A GoFundMe raised $8,000 toward Niblack’s treatments.
Levi Hawk, an Avon Middle School teacher, used his social media skills to create a video announcing Niblack’s return to the chair. If business had slowed during his absence, it was now soaring.
Brownsburg police officers invited Niblack to join a local cancer walk. When he said he couldn’t walk, officers replied, “Then we’ll carry you.”
The list goes on.
“I’ve never seen anything like it. I didn’t even know how to receive a lot of that,” Niblack says. “Cancer took everything I had worked for my entire life, but I feel like the kids I had saved were now saving me. It validates what you do and who you are and what these families mean to me. My shop wouldn’t be standing if it wasn’t for all of these people. That little garage might not mean anything to anyone else, but to me and to Brownsburg — it’s home.”
