Strangers glare at baby’s medical helmet. Then artist gives them an incredible makeover

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There are a multitude of different reasons a child may need a helmet while they grow up, and for Landee Tim’s son Henry, it was due to cranial plagiocephaly, which is “the development of a flat spot on the back or side of a baby’s head.” While it is treatable with the help of a medical professional, and by no means a fault of the family, she began to see that society was ignorant about the reasons why a child needs to wear a helmet in these developmental years.
“Once, while shopping, a woman walked by me and made a snarky remark, saying, ‘If she’d stop dropping him all the time, he wouldn’t need a helmet,'” Tim notes about the difficult time to TODAY. “Another stranger commented, ‘Oh, he must be a seizure kid.’ With a medical device on my son’s head, people made so many assumptions of what could possibly be wrong with him that my husband and I figured we might as well have fun with the experience and get it painted.”
She found Paula Strewn, who is known in these circles for painting protective helmets for infants. Their first helmet was in the theme of a pilot after Henry’s grandfather, who was a pilot in the Korean war.
The artistic rendering immediately changed how her son was seen in the public.
“The feedback from others immediately changed,” Tim explained. “Most of the time, Henry received playful smiles, waves and comments on how adorable his helmet was. Some even asked where they could pick one up for their children — not realizing it was a medical device.”
Strewn’s career itself started as a favor to a friend who needed a helmet painted, and has now grown to be a full-time busy, working nearly 60-80 hours a week. She explains that she’s completed nearly 3,000 helmets since she began in 2003.
“I feel blessed beyond belief that I am able to do what I do,” said Strawn about her work. “I have had parents in my living room in tears because their beautiful baby has to wear this ugly-but-needed thing. They don’t want others to look at their adored and cherished wonder of the world with pity, and that is heartbreaking.”
All of the amazing children that have been helped has served as therapy for the parents, and given society a new way to look at children that need helmets to aid them as they grow up. While the world around them can be cruel, little children and their family can create something so beautiful out of a difficult situation.
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