Girl gets Helping Hand to donate more blankets to young patients
[May 17, 2021: Natalie Davis]
Autry Jo Young was just 3 years old when she landed in the pediatric ICU at Ascension Via Christi St. Francis. The blanket the nurses gave her led to her mission to comfort children in that same position.
“I still sleep with it today and I love it,” said Autry Jo.
9-year-old Autry Jo still clings to that blanket. She was far from her home in Cheney, and the hospital can be a scary place for kids.
“It was just something that was comforting,” said her mom, Danielle Young. “It looked like something from home.”
Autry Jo’s hospital stay was short, but that blanket and her experience there left a lasting impression. Nearly every year since, she has made blankets for the PICU’s at St. Francis Hospital and Wesley Medical Center.
This year, she raised the bar. She got 4H involved and donated 172 blankets in all.
KWCH and DeVaughn James Injury Lawyers donated $1,200 to give her a head start on her next round of blankets.
The money has come in handy. Autry has already donated another 60 blankets and has two high school classes working on 50 more.
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