Pat Bohman is a grateful mother. Her daughter Kelsey, who was treated at Children’s Hospital in Denver for leukemia, has made it through the battle. During the Christmas season of 2002, Pat thought about the children still in the hospital fighting cancer and she wanted to make them gifts. She came up with idea for the Marshmallow Launcher — a kind of blow gun that shoots marshmallows. The children make a poster target by drawing pictures of cancer cells, the poster gets put on the wall and then the kids shoot marshmallows through a pipe-like device at the target. Marshmallow Launchers are a big hit with the kids at the hospital.
According to Bohman, the marshmallow launchers were created for the kids in isolation on the oncology unit at The Children’s Hospital as a means to relieve tension, while away the long hours in isolation, and have some fun in the midst of very difficult circumstances.
But it turned out that the Marshmallow Launcher serves a medical purpose. As a respiratory device, it helps a child strengthen lung capacity. Much more fun than pinwheels and bubbles. Bohman is even thinking about adding a flow meter to the launcher as a way to measure lung capacity progress. But for the kids, it’s just pure fun.
In addition, when Bohman finds out another family in her area has a child who has been diagnosed with cancer, she sets up a booth to sell the launchers. The young and young-at-heart are drawn to the fun of the Marshmallow Launcher. It has been suggested that some adults use them for interoffice communications. If you would like a Marshmallow Launcher of your own, you can visit Kelsey’s Kids website where you can purchase one. Bohman makes them in the basement of her home. The profits are donated to the hospital that helped her daughter fight against cancer and win.
