2,000 reasons to call this girl Brave

A mobile of nearly 2,000 Bravery Beads displays AnnaRose’s courage and resilience while she waited for her heart transplant.  Arts in Medicine helped transform the individual strands into a work of art she will always remember.

 

 

A collaboration between an Art Therapist, Artist in Residence, and Guest Service Specialist helped turn AnnaRose’s difficult hospital experiences into a colorful strands of hope. The project started when Marion Myers noticed just how many Bravery Beads AnnaRose was collecting. The Bravery Beads program is a national program that was started at UF Health Shands Children’s Hospital by Ginny Porfumo. Individual beads with specific symbolism are used to recognize each needle stick, procedure, dressing change, or medical milestone pediatric patients undergo.

AnnaRose, having been in the hospital nearly 300 days, had a pile of bravery beads filling bags and pouring over buckets. Marion felt like AnnaRose’s bravery should be honored and began stringing each bead into vibrant long strands. She approached Arts in Medicine to find a way to display AnnaRose’s nearly 5,000 bravery beads.

AnnaRose’s Art Therapist, Amy Bucciarelli, Artist in Residence, Sandra Murphy-Pak, and multiple Arts in Medicine volunteers helped transform the strands into a meaningful work of art. The result was a beautiful mobile that used 2,000 of her beads. Everyone who passed by AnnaRose’s room stopped to notice. AnnaRose received her heart transplant and is now healthfully transitioning to life outside the hospital. Draped in her bravery, there is no question what an inspiration this 9-year old girl is!

AnnaRose’s story was also featured in the POST.