CENTRAL FLORIDA — It is careful work, constantly cutting and tracing. Luckily, Rachel Maretsky's a crafty gal.
- Rachel Maretsky makes capes for infants at the NICU
- Two years ago she made her first delivery of 110 capes.
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"I like the satisfaction of seeing I had this blank thing, supplies and turned it into something a lot better," the 14-year-old student at Dr. Phillips High School explained.
While a sudden stay in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) can make parents feel powerless, the high schooler helps families honor even the littlest superheroes among us by making superhero-themed capes for infants.
A TV show segment across the country served as inspiration.
"What touched me the most was how little the babies were," she said, continuing, "And how they wouldn't get to have a first Halloween costume."
Maretsky said that she chose the colorful superhero emblems because babies in the NICU "really are superheroes."
Two years ago, Maretsky made her first delivery: 110 capes.
"It was a good feeling, but not as good as when I got to give it to the families," she said.
Last year, more capes, as the teen made her rounds at Winnie Palmer hospital, toting 125 capes.
And last week, she delivered more than 130 capes to the hospital.
"Help them feel a bit of happiness when their babies are in the NICU," she said about her purpose. "It makes me feel good to do good."