A last hug for ‘Cocobot’ as Coco rings the bell on cancer
Friday, November 22nd, 2024
Coco’s mother contacted our BubbleBuster project a few months after her daughter was diagnosed with leukaemia. Coco had already missed several months of school and had lost the confidence to video chat with her friends. She was also finding it difficult to hold up a phone.
We were able to lend her one of our characterful AV1 telepresence robots which began to bring her back into contact with her school and her friends. She called it ‘Cocobot’, and it became her eyes, ears and voice in the classroom, with Coco controlling it remotely at home through a tablet computer.
“It was a real lifeline for Coco and for all of us during a really difficult time,” said her mother. “In terms of reducing her feelings of isolation, it was invaluable.”
“We had a difficult few months where Coco barely managed more than one day every few weeks in school. She would really look forward to turning ‘Cocobot’ on in the morning and having a chat with friends over break time.”
By the summer of 2023 Coco’s health was slowly improving. Gradually she managed one or two days at school each week and needed ‘Cocobot’ less. And we recently heard the wonderful news that Coco has finished her treatment. She’s ‘rung the bell’ at hospital and happily returned to school. As you can see, she gave ‘Cocobot’ one last hug before returning it to us.
“The AV1 has been amazing,” said her mum. “It’s made a significant difference to her journey, and as a family we’re all hugely grateful!”
Since the BubbleBusters Project started we’ve connected over 100 families with schools across the UK, and we look forward to our little loan robots, made by No Isolation, being reused again and again to help many more pupils in the future.
Find out more about our BubbleBusters project here.
Image: (r) Coco hugs her AV1 robot, (l) Coco sitting at home looking at a school lesson through the tablet computer that controls ‘Cocobot’.