Halloween babies in NICU get superhero capes from teen
Tiny superhero capes will be the first Halloween costume for more than 100 babies in the neonatal intensive care unit at Winnie Palmer Hospital in Orlando — all hand-crafted by 13-year-old Rachel Maretsky.
Rachel, an Orlando middle schooler, took it upon herself to gift dozens of premature babies with superhero emblems from Batman, Wonder Woman, Superman and The Incredibles, for the second year in a row.
She said the project, which took about a month to complete, was inspired by a segment on NBC’s “Today” show that featured another teen who made similar superhero capes for premature babies.
“It was more exciting than I thought it would be… the [parents] had a costume that would fit their babies,” Rachel said.
She made 110 capes to fit most of the 117 babies at the NICU and delivered most of them over the weekend. On Wednesday, she will deliver the rest.
Rachel said her parents and some friends offered to help make the small capes, which they had to paste with hot glue in a clean space to avoid germs.
The project carries special meaning for Rachel — her best friend was a premature baby. She says she’s excited to do it again next year.
“Doing this project and meeting the babies and their families helped me see that the NICU babies really are superheroes,” she said.