Marshmallow Launcher
Here’s a product that not only brings cheer to sick kids but has a medical purpose too.
When Kelsey was 11, she was diagnosed with leukemia. She spent almost a year at Denver’s Children’s Hospital. After Kelsey received a bone-marrow transplant, doctors measured her lung capacity with a spirometer, which has patients blow into a tube to push a ball up a column. In 2002, she thought of making a marshmallow launcher that strengthens kids’ lungs as well as lifts their spirits.
From their home, Kelsey and her mom created a launcher made from a 12-inch acrylic tube. Tommie, the hospital’s child life specialist, says the marshmallow toys serve a medical purpose but also help emotionally and socially.
Jessica, 13, broke up her dull stay in the hospital by starting “marshmallow wars” with the nurses. Not only was it fun, but it strengthened her lungs too. After doing it, she’d try the spirometer and was able to get the ball to the top. Kelsey, who is now 18 and cancer free, hopes the launchers send a message: “When I was in the hospital, it felt so good when someone brought me anything they had made. I wanted to do that for other kids.”
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