Thanks to an 86-year-old man, over 300 premature babies in the NICU at Northside Hospital in Atlanta are a little cozier. Ed Moseley, a resident at Dogwood Forest Assisted Living in Acworth, Georgia, taught himself to knit so he could make warm hats to donate to the babies. How amazing is that?
Moseley, who knit the caps in response to his living community’s challenge to knit as many hats as possible for the hospital, told ABC News how he did it pretty easily:
“I prevailed on my daughter to get a kit, and it comes with the right size loom and the right tools to help you knit one. I just followed the instructions. It was easy. Somehow I had never knitted, and I always associated knitting with a bunch of needles but this looked pretty doable for me. I went through two or three before I came out with a good finished product.”
The end result? He had knitted 55 colorful, adorable baby caps. JoAn Hobbs, the facility’s executive director, explained why this goal was so important for the Dogwood community:
“Our corporate office gave us a challenge to see how many knit baby caps each community could make. The goal was 200 caps for the entire eight communities, but it seems that Dogwood Forest was the only one to really participate.”
As a recently retired engineer, Moseley was eager for the challenge, as it gave him something to do that would help others. What surprised him, however, is the help of others. Because of one of his caretakers, other staff, friends and family, Moseley had more than 300 hand-knitted caps to present to the NICU. Parents of preemies, of course, were thankful.
Doug Bunt, who welcomed his youngest son, Matthew, on November 12, said how much it meant to his family:
“It means a lot to us because this is our second stint in the NICU. We have a 5-year-old who spent 54 days up there. To know there are other people who are thinking about the well-being of these babies, our babies, it’s really nice to know. The fact this man is taking time out of his day to help the kids really means a lot to us.”
Of course, the Northside Hospital staff were also thrilled, as Linda Kelly, clinical manager of the special care nursery, said:
“It’s great to receive these wonderful gifts. To have a gift left at the bedside, or a nurse put the hat on the little baby’s head, makes it all seem less like a hospital,” she continued. “It’s important for families to see their baby as a baby and not as a patient. This will help to get the families to that spot.”
This isn’t the end of knitting for Moseley, however. He’s now working on caps for his grandkids:
“When someone appreciates something you do, that makes you feel good, naturally. I got a lot of enjoyment doing this and now I’ve graduated to large caps. I’m doing caps for all my grandkids.”
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Joanna Valente is the former Staff Writer at Kveller. Joanna is the author of Sirs & Madams, The Gods Are Dead, Xenos, and Marys of the Sea, and received an MFA at Sarah Lawrence College. You can follow @joannasaid on Twitter and @joannacvalente on Instagram.
