Higgy Bears

Even at the rippling age of 16, I am still in love with stuffed animals. There’s something about snuggling up in bed with my ratty (or, well-loved) Curious George under one arm and Pauly, my WWF Build-a-Bear Polar Bear under the other.

You would not believe what these animals have helped me through...as cliche as it sounds, having someone, or in my case, something, to listen to you can make all the difference. My animals have listened to me complain about everything from my brace to the ending of The Fault in Our Stars (which, I mostly just cried about...anyone who didn’t is inhuman).

Then, I recently discovered Higgy Bears, and I wish that I’d known about them sooner. Higgy Bears is a company, founded by Lauren, a scoliosis patient, that makes stuffed animals with a brace or a cast. Who would’ve thought? The company as a whole is inspiring in the awareness that they are raising about scoliosis and the impact they are having on kids who wear a brace or have had to have surgery.

The company provides a wide variety of different animals, and even makes different types of braces! Not to mention that they can customize a brace for an animal/doll that you already have. And, an extra bonus...there’s free shipping! That’s always a plus ;). I’m in love with the bear and the giraffe...so cute!

The mission of Higgy Bears and the impact that they have had on the lives of patients has made the scoliosis community as a whole so much stronger. Especially when a patient is young and doesn’t know anyone else with scoliosis, it’s nice for them to have something else in their life that has a brace...Higgy Bears says it perfectly...their bears “make scoliosis BEAR-able”. I’m a sucker for a good pun. A special thanks to Lauren for pursuing her idea and creating Higgy Bears!!!

To check out the bears, visit www.higgybears.com

It’s companies like Higgy Bears that help us to remember we’re bent, not broken! :)