Arrya’s eyelids were drooping toward sleep mode as she sat in her wheelchair with her bedazzled halo traction device holding her head upright.
Having had surgery less than 24 hours before and just gone through a tough physical therapy session, the 6-year-old Kentucky girl was in serious need of a nap. Clutched in her left arm as she gave up the fight and drifted off into dreamland was her new stuffed animal, which she named La La Higgy Bear.
The bear was a gift given to her by Shriners Hospitals for Children — St. Louis thanks to a donation from Higgy Bears, a Kalamazoo, Michigan-based nonprofit that makes stuffed animals for kids being treated for scoliosis.