Teen Makes Teddy Bears for Families to Remember Fallen Officers

A New York City Police Department K-9 unit patrols on Central Park West during the 91st Annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City on Nov. 23, 2017. (Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images)

A Florida teenager is creating handsewn teddy bears using fallen police officers’ uniforms to bring comfort to families and help them cherish their memories of their loved one.

As a daughter of a police sergeant, Megan O’Grady said she started Blue Line Bears after five Dallas police officers were killed in 2016.

“It hit close to home for me because it kind was like this could happen to my dad,” Megan said in an interview with “Fox & Friends Weekends” on Nov. 26. “I’m lucky that it hasn’t but it’s a reality for some children that it happens.”

According to the Blue Line Bears website, Megan’s goal is to “help the children of fallen officers through the difficult loss of their parent.”

To do that Megan is contacting families of slain officers to obtain a uniform shirt(s) and is transforming their shirt into a teddy bear. She is hoping that the teddy bear will “provide a lasting keepsake to help keep the officer’s memory alive” and also “provide a tangible reminder that their loved one will always be with them.”

“It’s like a physical way to hold a parent again,” Megan told Fox and Friends.

In order to make the teddy bear, the shirts will be cut, sewn and stuffed into the toy. The officer’s personalized badge showing the officer’s last name and police number will be sewn onto the bear’s stomach. The officer’s patch and any stripes will also be sewn onto the bear.

Before the bear is sent back to the family, it will be given a St. Michael medal and blessed by a priest. This is all done at no expense to the families, the website reads.

Megan said it takes four days to make a bear.

To date, the nonprofit organization has delivered 230 handsewn bears to police departments around the country in 29 states, according to “Fox & Friends.”

Her father, Patrick O'Grady, told “Fox & Friends” that he was proud of his daughter.

“It’s amazing,” her father said. “For some of the families, you look at the way police officers are treated in the United States, not by all people, but there is a segment that doesn’t see the heart behind the badge. They don’t see that we have families. They don’t see that we swore an oath to protect them no matter what ... like them or not we will protect them.”

According to the Officer Down Memorial Page, 118 police officers across the country have died in the line of duty so far in 2017.

From NTD.tv

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