Christmas arrives in July

Recently Child Life Specialist, Olivia Rauschenbach received a very special donation – boxes and boxes of blankets from a former patient.

Liam arrived by ambulance to the emergency department last December. His house had caught on fire and he and his siblings were injured. Liam says he did not truly understand what was happening to him and why all these people were running around him. He asked his Mom for his blanket which he has had since he was an infant. It was falling apart but still provided comfort and he was very upset. Unfortunately, it had been lost in the fire.

Brittany Stroud, a nurse in the ED overheard the conversation and immediately found Liam and new blanket which he reported was so soft that he immediately snuggled with it against his face. He kept himself wrapped in the blanket during the transfer ride to Riley Hospital for Children. It has not left his side since that December day because he says it reminds him of all the kindness that was shown to him during such a bad time for him and his family.

Once he healed, Liam had a new mission. Since the fire messed up the family Christmas, he reached out to family and friends and asked them to celebrate Christmas with him this summer. The requested gifts? He asked that they send a new baby blanket to donate to IU Health Arnett so that the next child that came along in need of comfort and security would have a blanket.

As you can see by the picture – he received around 44 Christmas gifts.