A Day at the Teddy Bear Hospital

Hello Everyone, my name is Sara Mehra. I'm a Global Student Ambassador at University of Galway from Bangalore, India and am currently in my foundation year in medicine.

This year, I've had the opportunity to branch out and try many new things, such as fencing and contemporary dance, one of these things was the Teddy Bear Hospital, organised by the Sláinte Society.

The event involved primary school kids coming over and having their Teddy Bears checked out because they weren't feeling well. The idea behind the event is to help the kids become comfortable during hospital visits as well as while speaking to healthcare professionals about what's bothering them.

The evening before the event, committee members and volunteers helped set up the Bailey Allen Hall for it. I helped out by making little bottles of medicine for the bears at the "Pharmacy" and "X-rays" for some common stuffies we expected to encounter over the next two days.

Before we began, I was a little nervous and confused about how to actually contribute because it was my first time volunteering at something like this. But I made my way to the "X-ray machines" because I like drawing and also because I had a lot of fun drawing the skeletons while we were setting up.

And soon enough,  the first batch of kids came in. I was at the table then, greeting the little ones and carrying out the X-rays, and boy was it something! I cannot describe the feelings I felt at that time because there was so much going on, but what I do know is that it was so much fun! I loved listening to the stories of what happened to the animals and why they were in the hospital that day - we had a lot of naughty little ones who were jumping on the bed.

The kids were so amazed at their stuffed toys' "X-rays" and how they magically appeared, but only we knew the true chaos behind the scenes!

And, of course, we had a few sneaky little ones who had peaked behind the table and seen us drawing the x-rays- which led to interesting conversations, to say the least.

But the highlight of my day had to be when a child with special needs had come by with a triceratops teddy and the day we were setting up, I had sketched a triceratops skeleton( I have to say, it was some of my best work). It was a very random thing to draw, but somehow, it reached the right person and made their day. Watching that scene absolutely warmed my heart, and I'm so grateful for this experience.

I am 100% going back to the next Teddy Bear Hospital. Maybe next time, I'll help carry out some teddy surgeries!

Words and images thanks to Sara Mehra, Bachelor of Medicine