Can You Help Make Trauma Teddies?

Fighting her own war against lung cancer, Griffith’s Pat Zandona received a pattern for trauma teddies for the Red Cross.

“I was knitting beanies and scarves for my family and myself,” Pat said.

“I knew I would be losing my hair and I was not going to wear a wig.

“Someone gave me this pattern for trauma teddies.

“My mother-in-law and I started making these trauma teddies.

“My grandchildren wanted some.”

Initially, Pat approached the Griffith Ambulance Station and then the emergency department and children’s ward at Griffith Base Hospital.

She contacted the Red Cross to ask about their trauma teddies label and was informed about their list of requirements to qualify as a trauma teddy, things such as only certain types of yarn could be used and there could be no joins.

Pat found that Griffith didn’t have a Red Cross knitting group, so she put the call out on social media to rally the troops and get one started.

“The aim is to get a good crew together and create as many trauma teddies as we can,” Pat said.

“Trauma teddies are purely for children for trauma.

“They’re comforting for children.

“Volunteers have been knitting the trauma teddies for the Red Cross since 1990 and over 50,000 are knitted each year.”

Pat’s own grandkids have plenty of store-bought teddy bears, but they gravitate towards the hand-made trauma teddies.

When Pat took some of the trauma teddies she and her mother-in-law had made to the children’s ward, they were very grateful and told her that they had been buying teddies to give to the children.

Pat is having none of that, though.

She and her new recruits will be meeting at the Griffith Community Centre.

Details will be on the Facebook page.

• Topics:

• Health & Wellbeing
• Hobbies
• Crafts