At the age of seven, Ella Casono was diagnosed with a mild autoimmune disease, called idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (PTI). This pathology results in an abnormal drop in the number of platelets in the blood and thus in an increased risk of bleeding. This little girl from Connecticut, United States, needed platelet transfusions every six to eight weeks. Problem, like many children (and some adults) who are afraid of injections, the infusions scared him.
“When I had my first injection I was surprised and a little intimidated by the amount of tubes and medical equipment on my IV”, says Ella, now 12 on its website. To alleviate this anxiety, the young girl took advantage of her hospital stays and used her creativity: she made a teddy bear to hide the pocket that worried her so much, American media reports CNN.
Ella Casano, now 12, had to have IV infusions when she was younger. The process scared her, so she came up with a creative solution: Medi Teddy, a teddy bear designed to conceal a bag of IV fluid, medication, or blood product from the patient. https://t.co/nPqKF7LXZZ
– CNN (@CNN) June 14, 2019
500 copies of Medi Teddy
“She cut off her stuffed animal and used a hot glue gun to [le] make “, tells her mother Meg Casano to CNN. Seeing that the invention was a great success among nurses, Ella and her mother file the patent, and baptize her Medi Teddy. “Its purpose is to conceal a bag of intravenous fluids, drugs or blood products from the receiving child and provide a friendly face to look at!”, continues Meg Casano. The back of the “pouch” is mesh, which allows the nursing staff to check the status of the infusion.
Several copies have been produced and tested, so that the Medi Teddy bear is as suitable as possible for life in a hospital. “The response has been fantastic: the nurses have tried out the prototypes and given some suggestions.”, says the mother, still on CNN. One crowdfundinghas now been launched to collect 5,000 dollars (4,450 euros), in order to place a first order of 500 soft toys. “We think we’re ready to produce a really great product that can help hundreds of kids.” The non-profit organization that the mother / daughter duo set up should give these first copies free to young patients.
“Seeing more and more children who could have the same feelings as I did, I became more interested in creating a more friendly experience for young IV patients., writes Ella. […] Hope Medi Teddy will help you as much as it helps me! “
Read also :
- With a plastic bottle, he saves children from pneumonia
- A screen-bandage that sends medical messages