About
Claire is a 17-year-old high school senior attending Pensacola State College Charter Academy. She is active in school varsity sports, swim, lacrosse, and cross country, Theater, and SGA. In addition, she is involved in Junior Rotary (Interact) as an active member serving as the immediate past President, member of the Pensacola Children’s Chorus, competitive sailor for the Pensacola Yacht Club and Navy Yacht Club, St. Paul Catholic Church choir member, and philanthropist for scoliosis.
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My Scoliosis Story:
In 2018, after having a chest x ray to rule out pneumonia, I learned that I had Juvenile Idiopathic Scoliosis and kyphosis. In the beginning of my treatment I had to wear a nighttime Charleston bending brace. My parents comforted me with a Higgy Bear, a stuffed bear wearing a matching scoliosis brace. I immediately felt the need to make sure all children with scoliosis could have a bear. I began donating bears annually to my local hospitals and clinics. After wearing the Charleston brace for 3 years, I wore an 18-hour brace (a brace you wear all the time with only breaks for sports, and showering/bathing) for a year. Despite 4 years of bracing, my curve continued to worsen and in 2022 I had vertebral body tethering (VBT) surgery. In addition to donating braced bears, I also provide spinal fusion and VBT bears so that other spinal surgery patients may be comforted. I have fundraised $30,000 in the past 8 years!
The generosity of your donations have allowed me to provide hundreds of bears to the local hospitals of Nemours and Ascension Sacred Heart in Pensacola, as well as Ochsner Hospital in New Orleans. Additionally, hundreds of other scoliosis patients and their families have seen these efforts and started their own fundraisers. This has lead to tens of thousands of Higgy Bears being donated all over the world! Thank you for your support!
In 2018, after having a chest x ray to rule out pneumonia, I learned that I had Juvenile Idiopathic Scoliosis and kyphosis. In the beginning of my treatment I had to wear a nighttime Charleston bending brace. My parents comforted me with a Higgy Bear, a stuffed bear wearing a matching scoliosis brace. I immediately felt the need to make sure all children with scoliosis could have a bear. I began donating bears annually to my local hospitals and clinics. After wearing the Charleston brace for 3 years, I wore an 18-hour brace (a brace you wear all the time with only breaks for sports, and showering/bathing) for a year. Despite 4 years of bracing, my curve continued to worsen and in 2022 I had vertebral body tethering (VBT) surgery. In addition to donating braced bears, I also provide spinal fusion and VBT bears so that other spinal surgery patients may be comforted. I have fundraised $30,000 in the past 8 years!
The generosity of your donations have allowed me to provide hundreds of bears to the local hospitals of Nemours and Ascension Sacred Heart in Pensacola, as well as Ochsner Hospital in New Orleans. Additionally, hundreds of other scoliosis patients and their families have seen these efforts and started their own fundraisers. This has lead to tens of thousands of Higgy Bears being donated all over the world! Thank you for your support!
