12-Year-Old Turns Sadness Upside Down By Sewing Teddy Bears For Sick Children

November 6, 2016

Campbell Remess from Tasmania, Australia has made about 800 teddy bears since he took up sewing three years ago. The 12-year-old takes his finished works to sick children at Royal Hobart Hospital to bring some much needed joy.

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Campbell had wanted to buy presents for sick children but when his mom Sonia reminded him how he had eight siblings, he decided to make the teddy bears himself.

"Lots of people like skateboarding and socialising with their friends, I just like coming home and sewing," Campbell said.

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"If Campbell could be on that sewing machine 24/7, he would," Sonia said. "Campbell is just wired differently."

The self-taught sewer took five hours to make his first bear, but he now assembles a teddy in an hour.

Campbell visits sick kids in hospital every Thursday.

"He looks at sadness and tries to turn it upside down," Sonia said.

Five years ago, his father Nathan was diagnosed with cancer.

A tumor the size of a tennis ball was removed, but there is an 80 per cent recurrence rate.

"When we discovered dad had cancer it was really upsetting," Campbell said. "Cancer gets worse with stress, so I made him the bear, so he could get rid of the cancer."

Nathan said the bear had helped him ward off the cancer.

"There's a little big of magic in them," he said.

"A lot of magic in Campbell though."