A kindhearted kid wanted to help his teacher give hugs during her battle with cancer. So five-year-old Avery Green and his family created a device they call a “hugging machine” and delivered it to his kindergarten teacher, Keri Stromski, at her Long Island home. She’s fighting stage four metastatic breast cancer and Avery’s invention gives her a chance to get close to people, if she chooses.
Stromski was delighted when the Greens brought over the hugging machine, she yelled at her husband and kids, “Come out here and look at what they made me … I’m going to get to hug one of my students!” The creation uses thick clear plastic as a curtain and huggers wear disposable bags to hug through it and mask-wearing is still required.
The teacher was diagnosed with cancer in 2016 and has continued teaching. While she’s in the hospital receiving treatment her kindergarteners think she’s on a “super secret mission to save a new puppet.” Avery’s mom, Cathie Green, describes Stromski as a “superhero” and a wonderful educator. “I think she needs the kids as much as the kids need her,” she says. “This was the least we could do after all she’s done for our babies.”