A 12-Year-Old Designed a Teddy Bear to Make IV Infusions Less Scary for Kids

Hospitals can be very scary places when you are very young, and seeing all the fluids, tubes and equipment hooked up to your little body can be very intimidating. That’s why this brilliant twelve-year-old girl with an autoimmune disease invented the Medi Teddy — designed to make children feel more at ease while undergoing IV treatments in hospital.

Ella Cosano, from Connecticut in the US, was diagnosed with Idiopathic Thrombocytopenia Purpura (ITP) when she was just seven years old, causing her immune system to mistakenly attack and destroy platelets, which are cell fragments that help blood clot.

“When I had my first infusion, I was surprised and a little bit intimidated by the look of the amount of tubing and medical equipment on my IV pole,” Ella writes on her website. So she set out to fix the problem so when other kids had to spend time in her position they wouldn’t feel scared — and Medi Teddy was born.

“As I saw more and more children experiencing the same feelings, I became more interested in creating a friendlier experience for young IV patients, so I created Medi Teddy.”

It’s a teddy bear that is soft and cuddly in the front, with a back mesh pocket that allows doctors to access the bag of medication, blood or fluid going into the patient’s veins. What a wonderful idea!

“She cut up a stuffed animal and used a hot glue gun and made her very first Medi Teddy,” Ella’s mum has said on her daughter’s prototype. After seeing how well it worked, Ella and her family patented her idea and began manufacturing the bears after many discussions with nurses about how to make the product better.

According to her website, the back of the Medi Teddy is mesh, “allowing for a doctor or nurse to see through and check on the fluid or medication a child is receiving. From the front, the child sees a friendly face and not the bag of medication, blood product or IV fluid being infused.”

Ella has set up a GoFundMe campaign to help raise money for her brilliant idea. Her company is registered Not For Profit and once the bears are made and approved by US health authorities, Ella plans to give them away to children going through treatment in hospitals.

Well done, Ella!

Source: Medi Teddy