NEW YORK—At a time when most New York children are skating at Rockefeller Center, watching holiday cartoons, and doing post-Christmas shopping with parents, pediatric patients need to stay in bed and fight against diseases for the holidays.
Yet New York Jets fullback Tony Richardson and founder of the “Shadow Buddies” program, Marty Postlethwait, warmed the hospital-confined children’s hearts by handing out 100 dolls at the Woodhull Medical Center in Brooklyn on Tuesday as part of the worldwide “Shadow Buddies” program.
“Shadow Buddies help nurture the human spirit and give children hope during a difficult time,” said Richardson in a press release.
The dolls, known as Shadow Buddies, wore t-shirts with Richardson’s uniform number 49. They are designed to help children cope with specific medical conditions.
In recognition of Woodhull’s reputation as a leader in fighting against childhood asthma in Brooklyn, one of the buddies Richardson gave out was the Respiration Buddy, which comes with an inhaler to help children go through asthma treatments.
“Shadow Buddies are great teaching tools for child life specialists. They help children relate to their specific illnesses and let them [know that] they are not alone,” said Postlethwait, whose son was born with multiple health conditions.
Postlethwait added that although Shadow Buddies cannot find cures to illnesses, they can provide hope to sick children.
Richardson’s trip to Woodhull was inspired by his teammate and friend, Atlanta Falcons tight end Tony Gonzalez, who has worked closely with the Shadow Buddies Foundation for the past 14 years.
Richardson and Gonzalez are each planning to donate 250 Shadow Buddies to Woodhull in 2010.
Since the Shadow Buddies Foundation’s establishment in 1995, it has donated more than 780,000 buddies to medically challenged children across the globe.
Yet New York Jets fullback Tony Richardson and founder of the “Shadow Buddies” program, Marty Postlethwait, warmed the hospital-confined children’s hearts by handing out 100 dolls at the Woodhull Medical Center in Brooklyn on Tuesday as part of the worldwide “Shadow Buddies” program.
“Shadow Buddies help nurture the human spirit and give children hope during a difficult time,” said Richardson in a press release.
The dolls, known as Shadow Buddies, wore t-shirts with Richardson’s uniform number 49. They are designed to help children cope with specific medical conditions.
In recognition of Woodhull’s reputation as a leader in fighting against childhood asthma in Brooklyn, one of the buddies Richardson gave out was the Respiration Buddy, which comes with an inhaler to help children go through asthma treatments.
“Shadow Buddies are great teaching tools for child life specialists. They help children relate to their specific illnesses and let them [know that] they are not alone,” said Postlethwait, whose son was born with multiple health conditions.
Postlethwait added that although Shadow Buddies cannot find cures to illnesses, they can provide hope to sick children.
Richardson’s trip to Woodhull was inspired by his teammate and friend, Atlanta Falcons tight end Tony Gonzalez, who has worked closely with the Shadow Buddies Foundation for the past 14 years.
Richardson and Gonzalez are each planning to donate 250 Shadow Buddies to Woodhull in 2010.
Since the Shadow Buddies Foundation’s establishment in 1995, it has donated more than 780,000 buddies to medically challenged children across the globe.
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