Clinton Township

Clinton Township family remembers daughter with stuffed animal drive

By Nico Rubello
C & G Staff Writer

» click to enlarge « Photo by David Schreiber Cliff and Tammy Patton pose with an armful of the stuffed animals they’ve collected so far this year for children at southeastern Michigan hospitals. Photo by David Schreiber Cliff and Tammy Patton pose with an armful of the stuffed animals they’ve collected so far this year for children at southeastern Michigan hospitals.

CLINTON TOWNSHIP — After the death of their infant daughter, Clinton Township residents Cliff and Tammy Patton searched for a way to recognize the anniversary of her death.

Erin had been born with an enlarged heart, major heart defects and severe valve leakage. In the time between her birth on Sept. 18, 2001, and her death 16 days later, the Pattons received stuffed animals from the hospitals.

Some of the stuffed animals mean more than others, but in their minds, each is tied to a specific day or time.

There’s the panda bear from the ambulance that took Erin from St. John Hospital to Children’s Hospital of Michigan the day she was born. Then, there’s the “surgery bear,” a little, brown Teddy bear wearing a green scrub T-shirt and matching surgical mask, which they received for Erin’s surgery on Oct. 2.

She died just two days later.

“I can look at each one and tell you what day it came from,” Tammy said. “It’s something dear to our heart. We know how much we appreciate them, so we know how much other families can appreciate them.”

So it made sense to them that when a chaplain at DMC Children’s Hospital of Michigan in Detroit encouraged them to memorialize the anniversary of Erin’s death, they organized a stuffed animal drive.

The tradition has continued, and every year since then, the Pattons have urged people to buy new stuffed animals and drop them off at designated businesses.

The drop-off sites are Cobblestone Ridge Family Dentistry at 16800 24 Mile, Suite 5, in Macomb Township; McKernan Chiropractic at 50544 Schoenherr in Shelby Township; and the Curves locations at 42312 Hayes in Clinton Township, 33990 Groesbeck in Clinton Township, and 16760 21 Mile in Macomb Township.

Like every year, the drive began on Sept. 1. The Pattons make pickups every few days until the last one on Oct. 2.

Donations can be made as long as the businesses are open, and only new stuffed animals will be accepted. Old ones may have allergens and other materials on them that may prove dangerous to children in fragile health, Tammy said.

Then, on Oct. 4, the anniversary of Erin’s passing, the Pattons take all the donations and drop them off for children at St. John Hospital in Detroit and DMC Children’s Hospital of Michigan in Detroit. This past year, they added the Children’s Hospital Specialty Center in Clinton Township to the list.

The drive started as a smaller, more intimate collection from family and friends, but has grown larger with time. Last year, the Pattons took in their largest collection ever with more than 500 stuffed animals.

“We’re always looking for it to grow so that we can provide more children with stuffed animals,” Tammy said.

To a child, hospitals can be new and scary places, especially in times of physical, emotional and spiritual suffering. And stuffed animals are little gifts that can have a big impact.

“Stuffed animals are used when kids need something to hold on to. They’re having a procedure done. They’re brought (to the hospital) from a house fire. They’re brought there from an accident. … They might have a diagnosis of cancer,” said Sister Beverly Hindson, a chaplain at DMC Children’s Hospital of Michigan. “Sometimes it’s kids who’ve been abused, who got a toy down in the emergency room.”

It was Hindson who suggested that the Pattons mark the anniversary of their daughter’s death somehow.

“(The Pattons) really invested, in their grief, to do something positive for other people,” Hindson added.

Cliff Patton said the drive is also about raising awareness for Children’s Hospital and for children with heart defects.

“That hospital is full of children with one issue or another,” he said. “That waiting room was full of parents of children who may not make it through the night.”

Eleven years later, the Pattons have managed to take control of the pain that comes each September and October by funneling it into something positive for others.

“We wanted to give back because we know somebody else gave,” Tammy said.
 

You can reach C & G Staff Writer Nico Rubello at nrubello@candgnews.com or at (586)279-1118.