DONATING DOLLS HELPS HEAL HEARTS!

Having scoliosis and needing to wear a bulky back brace, Sydney Black has always felt different-so she came up with a sweet way to help other unique kids feel accepted and loved!

- -Diane Nichols

Another wave of panic washed over 8-year-old Sydney Black as a voice rang out across the classroom: “Here comes sickly Sydney!” Every second grader turned to stare. It was the same boy who had teased her in the hallway, mimicking the way her back brace pushed her shoulders up.

Diagnosed with scoliosis at age 4—a condition that causes the spine to curve abnormally and affects roughly 100,000 children in the U.S. each year—Sydney had to wear a rigid plastic brace 19 to 22 hours a day to keep her curve from worsening as she grew. After moving from Illinois to Parker, Colorado, and starting at a new school, all Sydney wanted was to blend in. Instead, she felt more exposed than ever.

Most of her classmates had been kind, even calling her strong and saying she inspired them. But that one bully—the boy who never missed a chance to mock her— got under her skin more than she wanted to admit. But then, a familiar spark lit inside her—the same one that had carried her since the day her diagnosis had changed everything. It was the feeling of fight, of refusing to give up. The quiet certainty that if she kept her head high and kept moving forward, something bigger and brighter was waiting on the other side.

Someone like me