Surgeon turns children’s scars into cartoon characters to help them overcome pain

Spending several days in a hospital is often a difficult experience, especially for children. It was for this reason that doctor Robert Parry, who works at Akron Children’s Hospital, in Ohio, USA, found a way to ensure that scars were not the only memories in the minds of children who undergo surgery. With the aim of distracting the little ones during the post-operative recovery, he uses pencils and pens to draw cartoon characters on the bandages.

For us, from awesome.club, Parry’s initiative is so cute that we couldn’t help producing a post inspired by this story. Follow!

The Surgeon of Many Colors — that’s how the co-workers refer to Dr. Parry. And of course there is a beautiful story behind the nickname.

Finding the inspiration for the doctor’s nickname is easy: just take a good look around his office. Among the professional’s other belongings, you can find several boxes of colored pencils and pens🇧🇷 It is this material that he uses after every child surgery performed.

Parry has worked at the hospital since 2011, and has performed more than 10,000 surgeries. And such expressive numbers serve as a stimulus for him to continue helping children to overcome health problems. Like any doctor committed to his profession, Parry is always ready to treat his little patients. However, there is something that sets him apart from other co-workers: he has a special concern for the recovery process.

Taking into account the fact that children are more sensitive and that they tend to worry about scars that may appear after surgery, the doctor acts in such a way that his patients find a nice surprise when they wake up from anesthesia🇧🇷 To do so, he resorts to handmade drawings, showing the child’s favorite character and placed on the bandages.

Before each surgery, Doctor Parry asks patients what they like best, and defines what will be the best idea for the future design. Then, immediately after surgery, the doctor goes to his desk and prepares a unique illustration as the anesthesia wears off on the patient. The whole process takes about 5 minutes.

Parry said the idea was inspired by another surgeon, who cuts the bandage used in dressings in many different ways. He decided to adapt the initiative and, instead of cutting the bandages in the shape of sharks, stars or hearts, for example, started making designs on the bandage itself.

From well-known Disney characters to symbols of sports teams, passing by Batman and Olaf, from Frozen, the doctor seems to have enough artistic skills to draw anything. And the kids, of course, love it!

In fact, the little patients are so happy with the drawings that they end up stop thinking about the scars behind them. Even hospital nurses are used to asking, right after the child wakes up from anesthesia: “What drawing did you get?”

According to Dr. Parry, drawing on children’s bandages is always fun. “The reaction of the patients is really wonderful. The child is distracted and gets excited to see that they got what they asked for. The parents are also happy, as well as the other members of the medical team”, said the professional. And all the smiles that appear on the children’s faces are also good for the doctor. Children’s happiness means that the work was done in the best possible way.

Do you know other people who surprise you when performing your professional activities? In your opinion, what else should doctors consider when treating a patient? Comment!