Children Battling Cancer Can’t Always Express Their Feelings. Now a Robotic Duck Is Doing It for Them
By Peter Holley
Savi Abdallah-Sinha, a 4-year-old battling leukemia, interacts with a robotic duck designed to provide sick children with a companion and help them communicate with adults. (Peter Holley/The Washington Post) [Image courtesy of the Washington Post]]
It was hard enough that Savi Abdallah-Sinha was only a 2-year-old when he began undergoing chemotherapy treatment to rid his body of leukemia.
What made his situation even more difficult, his parents say, was knowing that the little boy was so young he lacked the words to communicate the many varieties of acute pain he was experiencing. Each time a new drug was introduced or a round of treatment completed, the boy’s inner world remained largely mysterious to the adults caring for him.
