![]() ![]() Nothing can temper the strain and sadness of a child with a serious medical condition, Chesney said. So some of these kids come back at different stages of their lives for the next repair, and we're able to take care of them, too." These children are born with congenital heart defects and some of them only require one surgery to fix it, and some of them require multiple surgeries in different stages of their life. "My favorite patients are the children, so that's who I like to take care of and that's who I am able to take care of most of the time," Gaber said of her work in the cardiac ICU. ![]() That's the one Hadlee Fuchsel wore for her baptism. The second gown, which came from a coworker's friend, had plenty of beading that Gaber used for decoration on the front of the gowns. "I have an ample supply of gowns," she said. She has a fourth dress from another one "of the gals at work," and has begun cutting it into the right shapes. Gaber has reconfigured three wedding dresses so far, making a total of 24 gowns. It's a nice thing that they can do, you know? Who ever does anything with their wedding dress?" "And (the women who donate their dresses) get a little teary, but, yeah. "When I showed Kelsey the dresses, she said, 'They're beautiful,'" Gaber said. Gaber used black ribbon to outline a vest, then sewed the buttons from the back of the wedding dress onto the front to mimic tiny tuxedos. Others were made with little boys in mind. Some have Chesney's dress pattern - flowering vines - across the front. Gaber laid out Chesney's gown and decided where to cut so the "best" fabric was at the front of the gowns (the backs could be plain, since they would tie shut). The angel gowns project appealed to her compassionate nature. She's also made a habit of giving back, including making bags for Beads of Courage, a nonprofit that provides beads to celebrate milestones along a patient's journey. Gaber, who works in the cardiac ICU, has been sewing for most of her life. So she put out a call on Facebook for anyone who could make gowns from her dress. "I just knew that (the program) was something really special, and I wanted to do that, too," she said. ![]() "It's just a special memento they can keep to remind them of their child."Ĭhesney, who was married in 2005, knew that Mayo supplied angel gowns, but Helping Hands paused its donation intake before she decided to contribute her dress. "Sad things happen, and unfortunately, we have babies that pass away that we just couldn't save, and so we have the families pick out an angel gown, and we dress the babies in that," Chesney said. Although the dresses are sometimes used for happy occasions like baptisms, many of the gowns go to bereaved parents, whose children have died in the hospital. ![]() NICU Helping Hands, a nonprofit based in Fort Worth, Texas, began stitching donated dresses into angel gowns for infants in 2013. 'Who ever does anything with their wedding dress?'Įarly last year, Kelsey Chesney, a nurse at Mayo's cardiovascular ICU, decided to donate her dress to make "angel gowns." The Fuchsels just happened to pick a gown - white, trimmed with lace and embellished with beading - made by Lynn Gaber. Each of the dresses was made from upcycled wedding gowns, donated by anonymous brides from decades past. Hospital staff offered the Fuchsels three angel gowns to choose from - all tiny, pastel confections with hospital gown ties on the back. "It was just nice to have something to help cover everything that was attached to her. "And then someone mentioned that they had gowns we could use," Mariah said. The Fuchsels had purchased a dress for Hadlee to wear earlier, but were stymied by her hospital accoutrements - the tubes and wires. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |