‘Coach Prime,’ My Special Aflac Ducks Surprise Patients at Children’s of Mississippi – HottyToddy

By Annie Oeth

UMMC Communications

Jackson State College’s Deion ‘Coach Prime’ Sanders and a flock of My Particular Aflac Geese designed to consolation kids with most cancers or sickle cell illness introduced smiles to sufferers on the Heart for Most cancers and Blood Issues at Youngsters’s of Mississippi this morning. 

“I’m joyful to be right here with Aflac to provide again to the Jackson group and spend time with these fantastic sufferers at Youngsters’s of Mississippi forward of our homecoming weekend,” mentioned Sanders, a spokesman for Aflac, coach of the JSU Tigers soccer crew, and a former skilled soccer and baseball participant. “The children are actually an inspiration.” 

Sanders introduced My Particular Aflac Geese, robotic stuffed companions designed for youngsters dealing with most cancers or sickle cell illness, as a shock to sufferers on the Heart for Most cancers and Blood Issues, which is without doubt one of the largest facilities for pediatric sickle cell care within the nation. 

Aflac, which pioneered the idea of most cancers insurance coverage insurance policies after seeing the influence the monetary burden had on most cancers sufferers and their households, has contributed greater than $162 million childhood most cancers and sickle cell-related causes, together with Youngsters’s Miracle Community Hospitals. In 2018, the corporate determined to include its well-known model ambassador, the Aflac Duck, into their philanthropic initiatives in a really tangible method. 

“We determined to make use of the Aflac Duck, beloved by so many individuals, to develop our dedication to these with most cancers and blood issues, and we created My Particular Aflac Duck® — a social robotic for youngsters ages 3 and older who’re identified with most cancers and sickle cell illness — to assist them address their well being points,“ mentioned Virgil Miller, incoming president of Aflac U.S. “So far, we’ve delivered greater than 18,000 My Particular Aflac Geese to kids in the US, Japan and Northern Eire, completely freed from cost. The Jackson group has been by way of some tough occasions currently, which makes our ongoing assist for Jackson State College — and our first journey to Youngsters’s of Mississippi alongside Coach Prime to ship this pleasure to kids — much more particular.” 

Youngsters’s of Mississippi Chief Nursing and Medical Providers Officer Ellen Hansen thanked Sanders, Miller and the remainder of the Aflac crew for brightening the day for sufferers. “Assembly Coach Prime and receiving My Particular Aflac Geese was a thrill for our sufferers and their households. To supply the companies the kids of Mississippi want and deserve, we depend on group and philanthropic assist. As we speak is a superb instance of such assist.”