Ramona Deitrich's hospital gown design is out of this world—and award-winning.
The 12-year-old shared her love for the arts in a solar-system themed gown that won a design competition sponsored by the Dunkin' Joy in Childhood Foundation. Ramona's design was selected out of 6,000 entries.
“I tried to think of something that would be good for girls and boys and that would make them feel happy. I love drawings where things that wouldn't usually have a face have a face,” Ramona told the Chicago Sun-Times.
The tween is a patient at Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago where she is being treated for a congenital heart defect. She had her 16th surgery soon after learning her gown was selected for the contest.
“Art is something that's always there for her when she's having a hard time,” her mother, Jane Deitrich, told the Sun-Times.
Nearly 15,000 of Ramona's gowns were donated to 60 U.S. hospitals by the Starlight Children's Foundation.
Her mom says Ramona completed the design in 10 minutes. “Opportunities like this really allow our family to have things we're looking forward to and celebrating other than all the medical stuff,” Jane Deitrich said. “It's a nice way to shift the focus off things that are hard or aren't going right to something worth celebrating.”
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