Premature babies often struggle to stay warm. At hospital they are kept in incubators with a hat fitted to their heads to prevent heat loss. So when the Northside Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia, needed caps for their premature babies in their neonatal intensive care unit, they put the call out to their community.
The senior residents at the nearby Dogwood Forest senior living community were more than happy to help out, knitting dozens of hats for the NICU. One of the residents was Ed Moseley, an 86 year old man who had never knitted before, but thought the idea would help “keep the old people out of trouble.”
Moseley approached his daughter for advice on how to knit, and after being furnished with some wool, some needles and an instruction kit, Moseley began to teach himself. “I started slowly and learned it just takes patience,” he said.
His first cap took several hours to make, but after a while Moseley started to get the hang of it. “I followed the instructions and after two or three attempts, I started making fairly good caps,” he said. “We started filling up my couch with caps, and then all of a sudden, caps started coming from various places.”
His creations were part of the 350-cap donation from the Dogwood Forest community, which were donated to the Northside Hospital last month.
Looking for a way to give back to your local NICU unit? Give your closest hospital a call to see what donations they are looking for over the festive period.
Watch Ed’s inspiring story below:
