There’s a 12 year old in Connecticut named Ella Casano who was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease called Idiopathic Thrombocytopenic Purpura (ITP) when she was seven.
As Meg Casano, Ella’s mom, explains it, “It’s when her body attacks and destroys its own platelets, so it puts her at a higher risk for bleeding or injury, more than most people.”
Due to her illness, Ella had to have IV infusions every 6-8 weeks and, like many children and adults, the process scared her.
Ella shared in a statement on her website, “When I had my first infusion, I was surprised and a little bit intimidated by the look of the amount of tubing and medical equipment on my IV pole.”
That’s when Ella decided to stare down her fear, used her creativity, and came up with a brilliant solution to disguise the IV bags, fluid or other blood supplies. She cut up a stuffed animal, used a hot glue gun, and created her first Medi Teddy.
The nurses thought it was such a cool idea, so Ella and her mom started the process to get a patent on the product, and worked on finding manufacturing and distribution of the Medi Teddy – an IV bag cover that provides a friendly face to look at.
The back of the Medi Teddy is made with mesh so medical staff can still monitor the status of the medicine patients are receiving.
Ella had originally made a few prototypes she gave to nurses for feedback on how to make the design better.
Then, the 12 year old entrepreneur researched business plans at school as part of an independent study, and crafted her own business plan for Medi Teddy. Her mom helped with the paperwork, and their nonprofit was born.
The mother-daughter team just launched a GoFundMe to raise $5,000 to place their first order of 500 units. As of this posting, they received over $11,000 in monetary gifts.
Once the bears are made, they will be given to children at no cost.
