Alberta teen says her family’s hospital experience led her to start initiative to support parents

A 15-year-old student in Alberta is taking what began as a school assignment into the real world.

“I want parents to be able to have a little bit of comfort while their child is sick in the hospital,” said Caley Wells a student at Strathcona Tweedsmuir School in Okotoks.

The Grade 10 student is the founder of Parent Care Packages. Blue bags are filled with toiletries, phone chargers and handmade pyjamas her Grandmother loving sewed.

Wells said she got the idea after her little sister Zoey — who suffers from hydrocephalus — suddenly became ill.

Lacey Wells, Caley’s mom, recalled how she rushed Zoey to hospital at the time.

“They said, ‘Your daughter’s shunt it failing and she’s going to need emergency brain surgery, so we are going to admit you,’” she said.

“It was just really scary, because the what if factor,” Caley said.

“(It was a) nightmare,” Lacey said. “You know she is in the best hands possible … but you are constantly praying everything goes right.”

In the end, everything did go well but Caley never forgot the longs days her mom spent in the hospital by her sister’s side with just the clothes she went to the hospital in.

“I was wearing jeans and a tank top — that’s what I slept in,” Lacey recalled. “There was a mom across the way — she was in a skirt and sweater. That’s what she slept in.”

“I remember getting the text messages of all the things … she needed and she was tired and trying to do what was best for my sister,” Caley said.

With the help of her family and the tremendous response and support from the community, Caley’s project was born.

The Wells family has already donated 50 bags to Alberta Children’s Hospital and have 50 more waiting. They hope it will spread to hospitals across the country.