Whether it is getting a friendly nuzzle from pediatric facility dog Huggie, listening to music or waking up after surgery to a room filled with Star Wars décor, Bassem Mansour said he will always remember the Child Life and Creative Arts Therapy Program during his nine-week hospitalization at UC Davis Medical Center.
“The extra support helped me cope with the stress of being hospitalized,” Mansour said. “I don’t think people realize how traumatizing it is to face the uncertainty and the pain of going through surgeries, which is why I want to start a fund to help other young patients deal with emotional trauma.”
Mansour and his parents have started the Bassem Mansour Pediatric Trauma Therapy Fund to raise money through the Child Life program to help pediatric patients with music and art therapy, as well as other types of creative therapy that will tend to their mind and spirit while doctors mend their bodies.
Mansour was in the hospital so much as a toddler that his mother said he learned to walk by holding onto an IV pole. A drum he was given by child life specialists also helped inspire his interest in music.
“I will never forget the support I received, which went far beyond my medical care,” said Mansour. “My mission is to expand and develop new trauma therapies at UC Davis, but I will need others in the community to get involved.”
Contributions to the Bassem Mansour Pediatric Trauma Therapy Fund can be made by: give.ucdavis.edu/HSYS/9400719.
