New York Kindergartener Makes Hug Machine For Teacher Battling Cancer

There's a lot of things we've missed during the coronavirus pandemic, but human contact has to be at the top of the list. A New York kindergartener came up with a creative and heart warming way to give his teacher, who is battling cancer, that much needed contact with her students - a hug machine.

Five-year-old Avery Green created a hug machine for his kindergarten teacher Keri Stromski, who has been battling stage four breast cancer. She's had to teach remotely while undergoing chemo and radiation and says the biggest thing she misses while being in isolation is the hugs from her kids.

Avery, with help from his parents Cathie and Al, who are both health care workers, gave Stromski a safe way to get those much needed hugs. They simply hung a shower curtain and cut holes in it, so the kids could reach through and give Stromski some love.

"She kept saying that she missed hugging her babies, so we just wanted to make something so she would have a way,” Cathie told CBS New York.

The hugs will keep coming too. Stromski told CBS News, she wants to set up a hugging parade when she's feeling better. That way, all her kids and their parents can stop by and make up for all the hugs she's missed out on over the past year.