After retiring in 2000, David Deutchman, the former chief marketing officer, started giving lectures at colleges and universities in Atlanta.
Although he enjoyed this activity, he wanted to use his time for something else. So, he started working as a volunteer in a pediatric hospital.
David began volunteering in the pediatric and neonatal intensive care units, providing comfort, support, and hugs to parents and children. He noticed that some patients’ relatives didn’t visit them.
“There were children that nobody visited,” he said.
Today known as the “ICU Grandpa,” he spends two days a week at the hospital.
“It’s a wonderful atmosphere, I love it,” said David, who has been volunteering at the hospital for over 16 years.
He says that as a volunteer, he has learned that many children need kindness, not just because they are sick.
Unfortunately, some children need a little more love.
David’s role as a grandpa in the intensive care unit became a viral sensation when Scottish Rite Children’s Healthcare in Atlanta posted his photo with a child.
“They just don’t understand the reward you can get from holding a child that way,” he once told CNN.
