Kylie's Higgy Bears Scoliosis Fundraiser

Hi, I’m Kylie Emery, and I’m 12 years old. I found out I have scoliosis in October 2020 during a trip to Wake Med hospital for a COVID scare. When they did a chest X-Ray, they discovered my “bent but not broken” spine. I had just turned 10. Thankfully, I didn’t get COVID, but my life did change that day. I went to Wake Orthopaedics and met Dr. Sami Mardam-Bey, where I began my Scoliosis treatment journey. I have been wearing a hard back brace for most of the day every day since, and as my 13th birthday approaches, I have learned that my scoliosis has progressed to 64 degree left lumbar scoliosis, 57 degree right thoracic scoliosis, and 25 degree left upper thoracic scoliosis and I will receive spinal fusion surgery on July 11th.

When I was 10, I was worried about wearing the brace every day, what other kids would think, how to cover it up at school, and figuring out how to do my day-to-day tasks with less mobility. Now that I’ve gotten the hang of all that, I’m faced with the fear of going through this spinal surgery. BUT I discovered this incredible lady in Michigan named Lauren who helped my family learn all about the resources available, and all the other kids that have gone through the exact same thing. She has created an awesome nonprofit organization called Higgy Bears (https://higgybears.com/) where she creates stuffed animals that are all specifically designed to match their human friends with scoliosis. Some wear their own scoliosis brace, some have curves, some have back scars, and some have even had spinal fusion surgery, complete with sewn in rods and back scars, and the “Surgery Higgy Animals” come with a mini X-ray of their spinal fusion surgeries and scoliosis care package that includes stickers, letters from other patients, a scoliosis awareness wristband, and more!

Since I have surgery coming up and June is scoliosis awareness month, I wanted to create this GoFundMe to donate as many animals as possible to other kids like me, so they can have their own buddy with the same treatment, and to help their journey be just a little bit more “bear-able” as Lauren says!

The proceeds of this fundraiser go directly to Higgybears, and once it wraps up, I will select the types of animals, gather their care packages, and deliver them to my clinic and hospital. There, they will pass them out to their child, tween, and teen patients to ease their pain, calm their fears and help navigate these huge life changes!

I really appreciate any help you can give, as this fundraiser will not only give me something super positive to focus on while I prepare for and recover from my surgery, but it will also change the lives of so many other children right in my area!