Mobile ‘Makerspace’ Provides Children’s Hospital Patients Tools to Create, Inspire

Newswise — Daryann Pryor was too sick to get out of bed during a recent two-week hospital stay for her cystic fibrosis, a chronic lung and digestive disorder. Unenthusiastic about the usual board games or painting, the 16-year-old didn’t feel up to doing much. And because patients with cystic fibrosis (CF) typically are isolated in their rooms — as they are at risk for infection from other children with CF or cross-contamination during a stay — roaming the hospital wasn’t an option. But a seemingly simple cart changed her mood and set off a charged imagination of possibilities. Instead of resting in bed, she was up creating, imagining and inventing — first a nightlight and then a doorbell. At first glance, the mobile Makerspace at Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s…