Originally published on Aflac Newsroom
When 5-year-old Arlo Northey arrived at the hospital for the first time after being diagnosed with a brain tumor, his world suddenly felt unfamiliar. There were new faces, new machines and new words like port placement, chemotherapy, treatment plan. It was a lot for anyone to take in, let alone a child trying to understand why life had changed so quickly.
But on that overwhelming day, Arlo was handed something unexpected: a small, soft feathered companion with a gentle heartbeat and a peaceful expression. It was My Special Aflac Duck®, a robotic comfort companion designed for children facing cancer and sickle cell disease.
What happened next, Arlo’s mother said, was nothing short of remarkable.
A tool for understanding and a friend for the journey
Before his port was placed, nurses introduced Arlo to his duck’s medical play accessories — items that mirror the tools used during treatment. With them, Arlo could practice what would soon happen to him. He learned where the duck’s port was, tried out the small toy stethoscope, placed the mock chemotherapy lines and acted out the process step by step.
For a child suddenly thrust into medical complexity, it offered something priceless: understanding.
“It made everything less scary,” his mother Aubrey Northey said. “He could practice on the duck what the doctors were going to do to him. It helped him open up about what he was nervous about, and it made things easier to understand.”
The duck quickly became part of the family’s new routine. Arlo brought it to appointments. He slept with it. When he felt nervous walking into a room full of medical staff, he held it tight.
“He brings it whenever he’s unsure or overwhelmed,” Aubrey says. “It’s become his comfort through every new appointment.”
A source of comfort for the whole family
What surprised Aubrey most was how much the duck helped Arlo’s older brothers, too. Siblings often become silent witnesses to childhood illness — worried, confused and unsure how to express the emotions swirling inside them.
But as the Northey family learned, My Special Aflac Duck wasn’t just designed for patients. It also helps families start the difficult conversations that cancer forces into the room.
Arlo’s brothers used the duck to ask questions, mimic procedures and show their own feelings using the duck’s feeling cards. Those small plastic discs — happy, sad, mad, scared, brave — serve as prompts for children to communicate emotions they don’t yet know how to articulate.
“It helped his brothers understand what was happening and talk about how they were feeling, too,” Aubrey said. “Something about seeing Arlo practice on the duck made it easier for them to ask questions and be part of what he was going through.”
For the Northeys, a simple stuffed animal has become a meaningful partner in navigating a frightening new chapter. It’s a bridge between a child’s imagination and the realities of cancer care — a way to help turn fear into something that can be named, explored and managed.
My Special Aflac Duck was the focus of a three-year study where patients reported a reduction in distress, nausea, pain and procedural anxiety compared to those who had not yet received a duck. This study, involving 160 children and families at 8 different hospitals, also revealed that parents and caregivers reported a reduction in stress and anxiety, showing how My Special Aflac Duck helps children’s support system.
A mission to comfort families when they need it most
Since launching in 2018, My Special Aflac Duck has been delivered free of charge to more than 43,000 children diagnosed with cancer or sickle cell disease across the United States, Japan and Northern Ireland. The duck was designed after 18 months of research with child life specialists, families and clinicians. Its goal: help children prepare for treatment, express emotions and find a sense of control during an experience where so much feels out of their hands.
Some features that make the duck unique include:
- Medical play accessories, such as a port, thermometer, and a stethoscope, allowing children to rehearse procedures or mirror what clinicians do
- Feeling cards that help kids express feelings they may not have words for yet
- A heartbeat and breathing simulation, providing calming sensory feedback during stressful moments
- Soft, comforting design, making it easy to cuddle during rest and procedures
- An augmented reality app offering activities for distraction and imaginative play
Child Life teams often describe the duck as a coping tool, a therapeutic aid and, for many kids, a comforting friend. For children like Arlo, it becomes something even more profound: a steady source of courage in a path they never asked to walk.
To learn more about My Special Aflac Duck and to order one for a patient in need, visit MySpecialAflacDuck.com.
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