Life lesson from Teddy – be happy!

The happiest chap, 14 month-old Teddy David Jacomb-Ryan from Scunthorpe, is brightening the wards here at Sheffield Children’s.

Teddy was born with ten fingers and toes but with a little difference – two of his fingers hadn’t separated. He has a condition called syndactyly (meaning joined digits) where the fingers and toes are wholly or partially joined. The bones at Teddy’s fingertips were fused at the top and the fingers were connected all the way down. Teddy, who had his operation to separate the fingers earlier in January, doesn’t let a hospital stay get him down and he can be found giving everyone on the wards a wave and a cheeky smile.

Teddy’s parents were impressed with the new wards and said: “It’s nice to have the privacy of our own room and it gives us space to spread out. He can go and explore and he loves looking out of the window into outpatients. It’s like a home from home, which is hard when you’re so far away.

“It was really scary, because of his dietary allergies we’ve nearly lost him a few times. He’s allergic to so many things.” As a result of his dietary requirements, he’s got very expensive taste, his mum says: “Teddy loves olives and salmon!”