It's no longer all beachwear and convertible cars when it comes to Barbies and a new line of one-of-a-kind dolls is honouring the global efforts of frontline heroes who have worked so hard during the pandemic.
“Barbie recognizes that all frontline workers have made tremendous sacrifices when confronting the pandemic and the challenges it heightened,” said Lisa McKnight, Senior Vice President and Global Head of Barbie & Dolls, Mattel. “To shine a light on their efforts, we are sharing their stories and leveraging Barbie’s platform to inspire the next generation to take after these heroes and give back. Our hope is to nurture and ignite the imaginations of children playing out their own storyline as heroes.”
The six dolls included are:
- Amy O’Sullivan, RN (United States) - Emergency Room nurse Amy O’Sullivan treated the first COVID-19 patient in Brooklyn at the Wyckoff Heights Medical Center, became ill and was intubated, then a few weeks later returned to work to continue taking care of others.
- Dr. Audrey Sue Cruz (United States) - Dr. Cruz, a frontline worker from Las Vegas, NV, during the pandemic, joined forces with other Asian-American physicians to fight racial bias and discrimination.
- Dr. Chika Stacy Oriuwa (Canada)- A psychiatry resident at the University of Toronto, Canada, Dr. Oriuwa has advocated against systemic racism in healthcare, which has been further highlighted by the pandemic.
- Professor Sarah Gilbert (United Kingdom) - As a professor of vaccinology, Professor Gilbert led the development of the University of Oxford vaccine in the U.K.
- Dr. Jaqueline Goes de Jesus (Brazil) - As a biomedical researcher, Dr. Goes is credited for leading the sequencing of the genome of a COVID-19 variant in Brazil.
- Dr. Kirby White (Australia) - A General Practitioner in Australia, Dr. White co-founded the Gowns for Doctors initiative – by developing a PPE gown that could be laundered and re-used, allowing frontline workers in Victoria, AU to continue seeing patients during the pandemic.
If your kids are looking for role models, it's hard to find better than these six!
Featured image courtesy of Mattel via corporate.mattel.com
