For most doctors at Children’s Hospital, performing surgery on children is commonplace. But when 9-year-old patient, Ryan Jasen went under the knife, he wanted his best friend by his side. Dr. Travis Groth noticed that Ryan’s best friend, a stuffed toy, needed a little surgery too, to repair a tear in the seam. Dr. Groth stitched up Ryan and the stuffed toy.
Children’s Hospital’s Instagram post of Dr. Groth stitching up the toy went viral.
The full post reads, “Check out this picture from our operating room. After performing surgery on a young boy, Dr. Groth made the extra effort to perform an additional surgery on the boy’s best friend – his stuffed animal. Our doctors, nurses and staff go out of their way to make sure every child feels comfortable and safe. Whether it’s stitching up their favorite toy or dressing up as their favorite character, we know how to make children feel better.”
Dr. Groth told TODAY, “He is extremely, extremely attached to his Mike Wazowski toy, you might think this is his fourth or fifth one.”
Tony Jasen, Ryan’s father told WTMJ4, “When [Ryan] woke up, he saw his best buddy also kind of patched up and had bandages around him so he felt like he was on the same page with him,”
Stuffed animal surgeries may be the next big thing to help keep children calm, and more comfortable during their surgeries.
“With this little guy. I think it made a huge difference,” Groth told TODAY. “It relaxes them and from a recovery aspect it helps that they can relate to something.”
