A resident of Arkhangelsk knits octopuses that save lives

One of the master class participants, Larisa Popova, is here for the first time, but already wants to instill this wonderful tradition in the women’s council of the Mayskaya Gorka district.

“Make at least a small contribution, through a craft, through its warmth, so that the children grow up healthy and remember that this toy helped them.” Because with every turn, with every knot, we invest warmth and desire for longevity for this child,” says Larisa Popova.

It takes about six hours to make one such octopus. Therefore, it cannot be done in one master class. Even the organizer, Ekaterina Tikhonova. And she has a lot of experience – she has thousands of such products for kids under her belt.

“We are preparing to become mothers, but no one is preparing to become the mother of a premature baby. And this is truly a tragedy. The goal of our project is for such toys to be given directly to employees of medical institutions, to those in need. We create them absolutely free of charge, give them away for free, and we want mothers who need this toy to receive it for free,” explains Ekaterina Latukhina, organizer of the “Gift for a Hurry Up” project.

The girl does not stop for a second, walks around the table and continuously explains what and how to do, and at the same time talks about the first product that she knitted with her own hands almost ten years ago.

— This was my first pregnancy, and I took courses at the school of my mother’s love. At that time there was still a regional maternity hospital, and such toys were just beginning to gain popularity in Russia. A neonatologist and an obstetrician-gynecologist talked about the role this octopus plays. I have been knitting for a very long time, and I am often asked: “Why have you been doing this for so long?” As soon as I learned about its functionality, I realized that with my little work I could save someone’s life,” explains Ekaterina.

The girl immediately found like-minded people in her business – her colleague Olga Rybakova joined her. This is how the “Gift for a Hurry” project was born, where master classes are held absolutely free. There are more and more people, and toys too. Some go to other cities. For example, the craftswoman tied 29 octopuses and sent them to the city of Ivanovo.

An octopus for children is much more than just a gift. She helps premature babies. These are considered babies born before the 37th week. Such newborns in the perinatal center are connected to the devices through tubes in a special incubator. But the grasping reflex makes itself felt – children often pull out these tubes, this can threaten their lives.

– Instead of grabbing the tube, the baby grabs the spiral tentacles of the octopus, and thus he does not pull out these tubes. He calms down. In general, this spiral tentacle imitates the umbilical cord, because in the mother’s stomach the baby holds on to the umbilical cord. This can very often be seen in ultrasound photos,” explains Lyubov Tikhonova, a neonatologist at the perinatal center of the Arkhangelsk Regional Clinical Hospital.

Octopuses conquer little children’s hearts not only in Arkhangelsk, but also in Novodvinsk, and Severodvinsk is next. This kindness does not go unnoticed. The initiative of Catherine and all those who care about the health of vulnerable little residents of the North is attracting more and more attention. There was even an invitation to speak at the “Russia” exhibition at VDNKh.

Thanks to such Saturday meetings, the craftswomen plan to knit 440 octopuses for Arkhangelsk Day. All toys will be sent to the perinatal center of the Arkhangelsk Regional Clinical Hospital. But the master classes will not end there and will continue to unite good hearts and hands in a good cause.

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