Fort Worth family donates thousands of teddy bears for Cook Children's patients
NORTH TEXAS — A North Texas family made a big donation to Cook Children's Medical Center this week: thousands of teddy bears to be given to patients as a source of comfort and encouragement during their hospital stay.
The McCarthys experienced firsthand the power of a "prayer bear" when their son Wyatt had to be hospitalized as a newborn, so they wanted to give back to the hospital.
They never dreamed it would turn into a movement of this magnitude.
"Within a week, we had over 1,000 bears," said Kelly Ann McCarthy. "I mean, it was wild. We were completely unprepared, but it was amazing."
McCarthy's son Wyatt, now 2 years old, had his first surgery at Cook Children's shortly after he was born.
"We found out he had duodenal atresia, and it's when your intestines aren't connected to your stomach," she said. "You don't get that typical newborn experience. He just was whisked away… It was so scary."
When Wyatt was recovering in the NICU, a hospital chaplain stopped by to give him a prayer bear. His older sister Poppy got one too as a way to feel connected to her newborn brother.
It's a program Cook Children's started more than 25 years ago. Every patient who spends the night at the hospital gets a snuggly new friend.
"We knew that the bear was donated there, which I thought was so special, like other people out there praying for us and thinking about us and we don't even know them," McCarthy said. "So that is just heartwarming when you're sitting in a hospital room with the uncertainty of your child's future ahead of you."
Months later, with Wyatt home and recovering, Kelly Ann saw the hospital's "bear den" was nearly empty. So she started the family's first teddy bear drive, reaching out to friends, family, co-workers and even strangers on social media for donations.
Now in its third year, the campaign keeps growing. It took five pickup tricks to bring this year's donation to Cook Children's, and the McCarthys still plan to collect bears for another week.
"We are so grateful for the McCarthy family," said Robin Brazell, the Prayer Bear Program Coordinator at Cook Children's. "We're always in need of more prayer bears because they are just leaving our bear den every single day, so quickly."
Cook Children's gave away more than 17,000 prayer bears in 2023, and they're on track to top 18,000 this year.
"It's such a symbol of hope and appreciation and love and that people are out there praying for you and caring about you," McCarthy said.
The bear drive is a way for their family to pay it forward, with their now thriving little boy.
"Our son who's so strong and brave and made it through it," she said. "It's just it's a miracle, and we're so thankful."
For more information about the McCarthy family's drive to give teddy bears to patients at Cook Children's, click here.