A woman makes dolls with the same disabilities as sick children and when they receive them, their reactions are touching ...

Every child should be able to enjoy their childhood, happy and carefree; unfortunately, for some, it is very difficult.

These are children suffering from pathologies that force them to come to terms, at a very young age, with a ruthless and difficult life, that makes them acknowledge a reality where they must arm themselves with as much courage and willpower as possible to challenge it.

In this perspective, any circumstances in which they can feel normal, like other children, and live their childhood with joy become very precious.

Consequently, this is the real gift that Amy Jandrisevits wanted to give these children by launching her therapeutic doll initiative called "A Doll Like Me".

Amy had the inspiration for such an initiative when she worked in the pediatric oncology department as a social worker in a hospital. Amy recalls that "during that period, while I was working with children, I used dolls in play therapy to help the children express themselves." 

Her goal is to make children feel better, by distracting them from their physical disabilities and lifting their spirits. However, Amy acknowledges that "it is difficult to tell a child that he or she is beautiful if they do not see anything or anyone that looks like them."

Seeing this, Amy realized how therapeutic it is for children to see their differences reflected in the things they play with. Therefore, she had the idea of creating non-traditional dolls for children with disabilities, which duplicate their physical characteristics, medical problems, and ethnicity.

Despite the high cost - around $100 USD per doll - Amy has launched a fundraiser on GoFundMe to finance the purchase of dolls for families that cannot afford them. In addition, she has also started a collaboration with a pediatric hospital.

Her goal is to distribute her dolls for free to the children who need them; in fact, "if we consider mental health as a necessary part of medical care, this is the key."

So far Amy has created 300 dolls, and for her efforts and this laudable initiative, she was selected as a Hero by the GoFundMe website. Amy accepted this award with the following words: 

"It is an honor to be recognized for my work of love and it is fantastic that others believe in the power of representation. Dolls are a tangible way to share kindness and acceptance of one's problems. These children are perfect just the way they are!"

In this short video, you can observe the enthusiastic reaction of a little girl as she receives her homologous doll. There is really no price for a similar joy given to a child who, like this girl, has experienced bad times, but who now, also thanks to a doll, can learn to accept herself and start smiling again.