My Dad does an amazing job, he is the Chaplain of the Fire and Emergency Service in Perth Western Australia. He goes to all the worst call outs, that I don't even care to think about. I remember from a child, a story he told me about a girl who was in a traffic accident, her body and mind went into a state of shock, just simply shut down. The chaplain at the time Major Darryl Rawlings went to the hospital to see this girl. The doctors told him, she was in a bad way and would not move, talk, nothing, "shes not really here, we just cant get a reaction" the doctor said. Darryl walked in with what is referred to as a "trauma teddy"- a bear dressed like a little fireman. The girl held out her arms grabbed the bear held it to her chest and said "Can I keep him?" The doctors where amazed "Well you just did what we couldn't"
Its a touching story and I am sure we can all remember our most precious childhood bear, what an impact a little bit of fur and stuffing can make. Trauma teddies are just fur and stuffing but they can be just what a child needs at a sad time in their life or when they are in a scary situation somehow holding on to a teddy can make them feel safe. This is the power of a teddy bear. Thanks to kind people like Jenny at The Teddy Tree (
http://www.theteddytree.com/) for sourcing and ordering for me, these little fellows are the bears I gave to my Dad for such situations when words don't help, but a teddy can make such a difference. I am sure there are Chaplains and people like my Dad all over the world, who do an amazing job. It takes a special person to do these types of jobs and they deserve our support. Maybe you can help your local Chaplain, get in contact with them, talk to them about how you can help, maybe you could supply your local Chaplain Trauma Teddies...and impact on a little child's life in a way you many never know.
