Taylor Fendley: A Teddy Bear Can Change Everything
I thought I had my life planned out, until I met a little boy with a teddy bear.
My entire life, I thought I knew what I wanted to do. I thought I wanted to continue my education to my doctorate's degree. I thought I wanted to become an orthopedic surgeon. I thought that is what I wanted, but that changed after volunteering with the Burton Center. While all my moments with the Burton Center were nothing less than astonishing, one connection made me realize the love I had for what I was doing.
There was one specific little boy that I had met on multiple occasions before that I tried to make my friend. This little boy was around seven years old. He had no visible physical disabilities but had been diagnosed with autism. I wanted this little boy to find comfort in the group activities that we were doing, but all he wanted to do was be with his mom and his teddy bear. Every time I approached the little boy, he looked terrified that someone was coming towards him. He never said a single word to me, and never wanted to play with me, but even so I always tried to include him.
One of the main events, and my favorite event, that the Burton Center puts on is called Miracle League. Miracle League is a baseball/softball game, with some minor alterations, that is offered to adults and children who are unable to participate in other conventional sports due to their physical and/or mental disabilities. However, though some children take it seriously, it is mainly just a time for kids to come out and have fun participating in something that they would not normally get to participate in.
To be all inclusive there is a special field that is specifically designed to allow everyone, no matter what their disability, to play. To ensure safety, and most importantly, allow maximum fun, every child is partnered with what we call a “buddy.” The buddy is a volunteer that does everything with the child and never leaves the child’s side. The buddy goes to bat with the child, runs the bases with the child, fields with the child, protects the child if any stay balls are coming their way, and assists the child with anything that they may need. Before the game starts, every child, with assistance from their family or an organizer of the game, gets to choose their buddy from the line of volunteers.
The Miracle League field at the Burton Center
When it came time to choose buddies for the game, the little boy I had been trying so hard to befriend, but it seemed like I was getting nowhere, left his mother's side. While clenching his teddy bear tightly with his hand, he came and grabbed mine with the other. Still not saying anything to me, he had chosen as his buddy. Me, of all people. Words could not express my excitement. I felt like it was a breakthough moment, as if I had just won the Nobel Prize.
The choosing of buddies continued, and I was smiling ear to ear the entire time. The group of children and buddies quickly split up into teams, and we took the field. When the game started, the little boy was excited and interested at first, but that quickly faded. Not dropping my hand or the teddy bear once since I was chosen as his buddy, we sat on the bench away from others as our teammates batted. When it was our turn to bat, he was already uninterested in the game. He kept trying to leave the field to go find his mom and family that were watching from the stands.
His turn at batting was skipped until we were ready. Nothing I was saying to him was able to get him interested in the game again. I discussed many options with him. I told him that it was extremely fun and that his family was watching him play and that once he bats, we could go on the field and play. Nothing changed his mind. Finally, I asked him about his teddy bear.
The teddy bear was obviously used. Brown and nameless, it lay limp in his hand. With its stuffing deflated and its fur covered in stains, it was evident that this teddy bear had been thought everything with this little boy, and it was comfort to him in every situation.
I asked if the teddy bear wanted to bat with us, and suddenly his eyes lit up, as if I had just said the magic words: Teddy Bear. I told him that his teddy bear could come with us to bat. Immediately he was ready to go.
We went on the field, and he dropped my hand for the first time since the budding to hold the bat. The teddy bear and him were both holding the bat with both hands, as if he was assisting his teddy bear with batting as I was supposed to be assisting him with batting, but he didn’t need it.
He, and the teddy bear, with a combined effort, hit the ball and started running the bases together. In the game of Miricle League, they could run however many bases they desired. Running all the bases together at maximum speed, and me following close behind trying to keep up, they hit a home run.
With excitement, the little boy ran back to the dugout and high-fived several teammates. This was the first time I had seen him interact with others and be completely interested in the game. After the boy and teddy bear had cleared all the bases, it was time to take the field.
While we were on the field, the game stopped, and the chicken dance started playing. Ignoring the actual moves to the dance, the little boy wanted to spin around and around with the still nameless teddy bear and me as if we were Dosey Doeing.
The little boy was having so much fun dancing that he finally talked to me. It was only to tell me to keep dancing, even after the music had stopped. We danced on the field until it was our team's turn to bat again. The same thing happened. He and the teddy bear hit the ball, ran all the bases, high-fived others, and we went on the field and danced together.
After the game, I returned the boy to his family. Enthusiastically, he ran to her still holding his teddy bear as he was smiling the biggest smile I had ever seen. His mom thanked me for being his buddy and told me that he normally does not take to people like he was able to take to me.
I told the little boy that I had fun playing with him and his teddy bear and that I hoped to see him at the next game. Still not saying anything, he gave me a hug then went back to his mom.
This is a story I love to tell because it can be so simple the things that you connect with someone over. I never realized the love I have for making connections with people until I met this little boy. I now realize that this is what I want to do with my career. I want to work with children and form connections that I would not normally be able to form.
Being an orthopedic surgeon had always been my goal for my career. However, being in an operating room all day, I would not be able to make connections with patients as I was able to do with the little boy.
My dad convinced me to get my undergraduate degree in nursing before continuing to medical school for a doctorate. This is what led me to Lander and to nursing, but I never knew what all nurses did until I started my nursing clinicals. Nurses have the ability to form connections with people like I was able to with that little boy.
From my time at the Burton Center and my time in nursing clinicals, I realized that this is what I want to do. I want to be a pediatric nurse.
Taylor Fendley is from Anderson, South Carolina, and has always had a deep interest in the medical field since she was a little girl. She is majoring in nursing and graduates from Lander in Fall 2023. After graduation she is planning to work in a pediatric emergency room. During her time in the Lander Honors College, she took multiple honors classes and volunteered at the Burton Center in Greenwood, working with children with special needs, intellectual disabilities, and physical disabilities.