Giving birth is a life-changing experience, but it doesn't always go as planned, especially when a baby is born premature.
These tiny newborns may have to spend days, weeks or even months in an incubator away from their families. And, for their parents, life can feel like a treadmill of hospital visits, expressing milk and sleepless nights.
So, when one couple spotted a brightly coloured superhero cape hanging from the IV pole next to their baby’s incubator, it immediately gave them a boost.
Speaking to CTV News, Michelle Campbell and Chris Korres explained that the tiny cloak had come adorned with a simple and uplifting message: “To our little Superhero, love Stephanie T.”
“I just started bawling my eyes out when I saw that cape,” said Campbell.
After asking around, Campbell and her husband soon discovered that the cape had been made by nurse Stephanie Treherne, who works on the neonatal ward at the Jewish General Hospital in Montreal, Canada.
And, as it turns out, Treherne has been busy hand-stitching capes since October 2016. All too aware of how emotionally draining it can be for parents to be separated from their babies, she’s tirelessly hand-stitched more than 100 of the felt cloaks in a bid to help bring a smile back to their faces.
“It represents exactly how we see the babies,” explained Treherne, when asked why she gives up her free time to do such a thing.
“These babies are super strong. They fight through so much. They’re just little superheroes.”
Treherne added that she prefers to surprise the new mums and dads rather than giving the capes to them directly. Some of the parents have never even met her – which is why Campbell is so pleased she managed to chat to Treherne before her son was discharged from hospital.
Explaining that she’s hung the cape up in her baby boy’s nursery, she added: “[These capes] bring a smile to the parents’ faces in a time that’s not so good.
“It was really special for us to have gotten that.”
Images: CTV News
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