These six words: Grow strong, grow smart, grow kind.
Those are the six words that 73-year-old Dave Whitlow shares with every child he holds at the NICU at Children’s Hospital of Richmond in Virginia.
You see, Dave volunteers at the hospital as a “cuddler”.
I know what you’re thinking: “What’s a cuddler”?
A cuddler comforts premature and critically ill babies, simply by holding them and cuddling them.
And Dave volunteers as a cuddler two days a week to comfort those critically ill babies, he learns their condition from nurses, keeps a close eye on their monitors, and gives them that human touch, that cuddling, that TLC that babies need.
He says the role of being a “cuddler” is the best job he’s ever had, and before returning each baby to their bed, he whispers to them, “Grow strong, grow smart, grow kind.”
CLICK HERE/PEOPLE.COM to read more about Dave Whitlow and the extremely important volunteer work he does!
