Treasure’s Love Bears continues Valentine’s tradition

By Brandon Shields

Managing editor

Treasure Thaxton was born 20 years ago on a hot summer morning in June at Jackson-Madison County General Hospital.

Because she was born two months premature, Treasure had a number of complications in the first few months of her life.

Because of those complications, she spent months in the NICU, had multiple surgeries done and her parents – Tierra and Greg – were unable to hold her.

“It was so tough during that time,” said Greg, who did get to hold his daughter for the first time on Father’s Day 2003, but it was brief and kept very sterile. “Because we wanted nothing more than to hold our baby girl that we’d waited so long for, and we wanted to help her to ease her pain and make all her troubles go away.

“But we simply couldn’t do anything to help her besides stay by her side as much as possible and pray for her.”

Treasure did make it out of the hospital about six months later, and she’s led a normal life despite the treacherous start she had to her life.

Two years later, Greg and Tierra put together an effort to give back and pay things forward.

“When Treasure was in the hospital, we had so many people reach out to us, help us out, bring us food, pray for us, help us with anything we needed,” Tierra said. “And one thing that surprised us that helped a lot were when we were given teddy bears to hold in place of our daughter.

“We couldn’t hold her, but the time we spent holding those bears in her place somehow made us feel a little bit better in the storm that we were in.”

Because of the kindness they received and the comfort they received from the bears, Greg and Tierra began the initiative Treasure’s Love Bears, where they would go to the NICU at JMCGH and at Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital in Memphis – where Treasure spent some time and had a couple surgeries – and deliver specialized teddy bears to patients in the NICU at Valentine’s Day.

“This was our 19^th year to do it,” Tierra said about giving out the bears earlier this month. “And it’s been a blessing every year to do it.

“We asked Treasure how long she wants to keep doing it, and she said she never wants to stop, so we’ll see how that progresses as we all get older.”

Brandon Shields, brandon@jacksonpost.news