Severna Park Family Starts Tucker’s Teddies To Help Families Grieve

After the loss of her son, Tucker, Sierra Mullen and her mother, Michele Mullen, made it their mission to help families experiencing loss.

Tucker’s Teddies was established in May to give teddy bears to grieving families and inpatient children. Their services will also include hospital staff appreciation, memory-making crafts, and anything else these families may need during their hospital stays or after a loss.

“We wanted to help other families who were dealing with loss or inpatient children and the nurses who were taking care of the babies in the hospital,” said Sierra.

After a healthy pregnancy, Sierra gave birth to Tucker on September 26, 2017. Everyone believed Tucker to be in perfect health until his two-week checkup at the pediatrician, when his doctor heard a heart murmur.

“They came to us and said, ‘Nine times out of 10 a murmur is nothing, but unfortunately, this time it is something,” said Michele.

Tucker was sent to Children’s National Medical Center in Washington, D.C., where he stayed on and off until he passed away on January 7, 2018. He was only three and a half months old.

Many foundations helped Sierra and Michele while Tucker was in the hospital, but when he passed away, the care stopped.

“When we suffered the loss of Tucker, it was so heartbreaking and we didn’t know how to go on,” said Michele. “We had to find a way to channel our grief and to help others.”

Michele, who is a respiratory therapist at University of Maryland Baltimore Washington Medical Center (UM BWMC), said she heard a patient’s family member talk about how a teddy bear helped her deal with the loss of a child years before Tucker was born.

After Tucker passed away, Michele told this story on a bereavement panel at Children’s National Medical Center, and emphasized that no one should ever leave the hospital empty-handed.

“Later on, we got a call from one of the palliative care doctors and she said, ‘Everyone thinks this is such a great idea. We’ll only do it if you guys will back it,’” said Michele. “That’s how Tucker’s Teddies became a thing.”

It had all come full circle. When Tucker was in the hospital, Sierra was sent a fruit basket with a stuffed bear. Sierra put the bear at the end of Tucker’s bed, and it left his side only when he was undergoing procedures.

Through the Maryland Nonprofit Association, Michele and Sierra officially established Tucker’s Teddies, and have been creating a community of support ever since.

Sierra customized every detail of the bears through The Petting Zoo, a stuffed animal manufacturer in Hanover, Maryland. She designed a big bear for families struggling with loss, and a smaller bear for children. The bigger bears will also be given to children who have lost parents or grandparents.

Both Sierra and Michele said the moment they started designing the bears was when they realized their vision was coming to life.

Staff support is vital to both Sierra and Michele, as they saw the effect Tucker’s passing had on the hospital staff.

“The staff can’t help but get attached,” said Michele. “When the staff goes through loss after loss, it is so difficult to deal with the emotion, no matter how professional they are.”

On October 3, Tucker’s Teddies held its first staff appreciation day, providing lip balm, bath bombs, lotions, and other self-care items to the UM BWMC staff.

The first Tucker’s Teddies benefit dance will be held on November 2 at Michael’s Eighth Avenue in Glen Burnie.

“It feels like for so long we were wondering what we wanted to do, but having the bears and getting ready for our first fundraiser, it makes the loss a lot easier,” said Sierra.

Sierra and Michele plan to hold many more fundraisers, staff appreciation days, and to give families the opportunity to grieve within a supportive community.

“People need to know that they aren’t alone,” said Michele. “Grief and joy can coexist; you just have to find a way to let that happen.”

Both Sierra and Michele are channeling their grief into joy by making sure that Tucker’s memory lives on through this nonprofit.

“It is nice to know that Tucker’s name is going to continue to be said,” Michele noted. “Tucker lived; Tucker continues to live on. It’s just in a different way.”