Continuing in my quest to collect all the large puppet mascot characters around, may I present Trauma Teddy, ‘the bear that cares’, and the fund raising mascot for the Australian Red Cross. November is fund raising month for the Red Cross, and November 23nd was National Trauma Teddy Day.

While Trauma Teddy himself visits sick children in hospital and travels to schools to entertain and inform children about the activities of the Red Cross, the Trauma Teddy program is one where people in the community knit individual bears which are then given to comfort children and adults experiencing trauma. Although the bears are made to a special pattern, and you have to be a registered knitter with the Red cross to get it, each bear is different.

In hospitals now they have a machine with which you can self-administer morphine when things are getting tough. The nurse comes along and coos ‘Now how would you rate the pain you feeling on a scale of 1 to 10? 7? Well then I’ll just link you up to the … (imagine dramatic psycho stabbing music and cackles) … PAIN MACHINE!’ My only concern with Trauma Teddy is his name. Does someone come up to you and coo ‘There there, let me give you a …(uh-oh) … TRAUMA TEDDY’.