12-Year-Old Girl Invents A Way To Make IVs Less Scary For Kids!
The Medi Teddy!
Ella Casano is from Connecticut and was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease called Idiopathic Thrombocytopenia Purpura (ITP) when she was just seven years old. As a result, Ella has had several infusions; every six to eight weeks.
Ella spoke out about her experience on her webpage expressing intimidation and fear with the amount of medical equipment on her IV pole.
As a result, the Medi Teddy was Born!
Ella made one herself at first by cutting out the stuffing in a Teddy to make room for and to hide the IV bag. After several conversations with Doctors and Nurses on how to make the Medi Teddy better- Ella found a manufacture and started a non-profit company.
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, with the help of her family has launched a GoFundMe to raise $5000 so that she can order her first 500 units to than distribute to kids in hospitals.
Happy to announce that Ella has raised almost $20,000!
