Legendary Coach Dawn Staley Helps Give Sickle Cell Patients a Voice With My Special Aflac Duck®
Originally published on Aflac Newsroom
When your view of the world is through the lens of a disease that can often cause pain and require more frequent doctor visits, finding comfort is imperative. That is a reality for the approximately 100,000 Americans impacted by sickle cell disease,1 including more than 4,000 in South Carolina alone.2
That’s why, in July, three-time women's national championship-winning University of South Carolina Head Basketball Coach and Olympic legendary Coach Dawn Staley joined Aflac to deliver a dose of comfort by giving 16 pediatric sickle cell patients at Prisma Health Children's Hospital-Midlands their very own My Special Aflac Duck®. This cuddly, robotic companion is designed to give children a voice by helping them communicate their feelings, prepare for medical procedures, practice distraction techniques and more.
Pediatric sickle cell patients went on a scavenger hunt through the hospital before the children were surprised with their new, cuddly companions to keep, delivered by Staley. The sickle cell version of My Special Aflac Duck has a special cape designed to mimic a blanket, reflecting sickle cell patients who are often sensitive to changes in temperature. The cape doubles as art therapy to delight children serving as a water-activated, color-changing canvas.
The duck was designed in consult with more than 100 children, families and medical professionals in partnership with Empath Labs and uses medical play and lifelike movement to help children cope with their treatments. In 2022, Aflac expanded its My Special Aflac Duck program to serve pediatric patients with sickle cell with research-based updates like unique accessories designed to help reinforce care routines.
Since My Special Aflac Duck was first introduced in 2018, Aflac has delivered more than 31,000 ducks to children in the United States, Japan and Northern Ireland — nearly one-third of those have been given to children diagnosed with sickle cell disease.
Aflac's commitment to pediatric cancer and blood disorders spans decades with Aflac employees, independent agents and The Aflac Foundation, Inc. contributing more than $184 million to childhood cancer and blood disorders treatment and research since 1995.
Health care providers, support organizations and families can order My Special Aflac Duck free of charge for children 3 years or older who have been diagnosed with cancer or sickle cell disease at MySpecialAflacDuck.com.
1 CDC — Fact Sheet: Sickle Cell Disease — https://www.cdc.gov/sickle-cell/media/fact-sheets/basic-information/what-you-should-know-about-scd.pdf. Accessed Sept. 5, 2024.
2 Prisma Health. Comprehensive Sickle Cell Disease Program — Midlands. https://prismahealthchildrens.org/programs-and-services/hospital-services/comprehensive-sickle-cell-disease-program/sickle-cell-program-midlands. Accessed Sept. 5, 2024.
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