David Deutchman, the man, popularly known as ‘ICU Grandpa,’ is an internet sensation. He has gone viral for cuddling a dozen sick kids. David Deutchman, who is 82 years old visits the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit and even the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta to caress sick children whose families cannot always be there with them. The hospital posted a picture of David holding a baby some time back, and since then the picture received a lot of love from users online. The pictures have more than 250,000 likes. The hospital even created a video showing ICU Grandpa singing “You Are My Sunshine” to a baby.
He said, “Some of my guy friends ask me what I do here. I tell them, I hold babies.”
Meet David Deutchman, the man, popularly known as ‘ICU Grandpa.’
He says, “Sometimes I get puked on, I get peed on. It’s great.”
David Deutchman has been holding babies and caring for moms at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta for over 12 years.
David Deutchman’s kindness has sparked a love in many others to inquire about ways to become a baby buddy.
The hospital staff wrote, “Fortunately for us, we are well staffed with Baby Buddy volunteers and have a lengthy waitlist.”
Children’s Healthcare’s Baby Buddy Program has even been profiled before by USA Today.
Sarah Hash, an assistant nurse manager at Children’s Healthcare, says, “The Baby Buddies give a kind of peace that somebody is holding and able to love and care for while they’re not here.”
Deutchman says his friends don’t get it. He adds, “They just don’t get it; the kind of reward you can get from holding a baby like this.”
