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Cover Story

Cover Story - Spanish Version

Mini-Lesson

Comprehension Quiz

Teacher's Guide and Worksheets

One Special Buddy

By Martha Pickerill

Miles Postlethwait learned at an early age that spending long stretches in the hospital is a lonely way to live. He was born with serious medical challenges and had undergone surgery 25 times by his eighth birthday. One day, young Miles told his mother, "I wish I had a friend just like me."

Miles's mother made him a doll with surgery scars on its abdomen and around its heart, just like Miles has. They called the doll his Shadow Buddy. Miles and his mom decided to make them for other kids as well. In 1995, they started the Shadow Buddies Foundation. TIME FOR KIDS reported on it in 1997.

Miles is now 18 and a student in college. He also works with his mom to help more patients receive Shadow Buddies. There are dolls to match 24 medical procedures: eye surgery, burn therapy, liver transplants, cancer treatment and others. Each doll wears a brightly printed hospital gown and has heart-shaped eyes. The eyes were Miles's idea for reminding hospitalized kids that they are loved. Each doll also bears Miles's thumbprint on its left hand.

Since the foundation began, it has given more than 500,000 Shadow Buddies to children in hospitals all over the world. Doctors use the dolls to teach kids and their families about medical procedures. Soon, each doll will come with a little book that describes the child's condition and includes word games and activities for young patients.

"Many of these kids are very sick, and it's a joy to be able to see that their Shadow Buddies comfort them," says Marty Postlethwait, Miles's mom. "One boy who is a cancer patient told Miles: 'Man, these Shadow Buddies rock!' We thought that really summed it up."

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