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Man creates wooden toys for patients at Riley Hospital for Children

Norm McCarty has been at it for 22 years
Posted at 11:12 PM, Oct 23, 2017
and last updated 2017-10-23 23:12:57-04

INDIANAPOLIS -- Norm McCarty has spent the past 22 years creating thousands of wooden toys for patients at Riley Hospital for Children.

The 81-year-old McCarty says he'd built a few birdhouses for his grandkids and then his kids Cub Scout troops.  They all aged out of his creations, but he wasn't done.

"I was having too much fun and didn't want to quit. So that's why I went to Riley. That was back in '95. We have been going since then," said McCarty.

In his garage turned workshop, McCarty and two of his buddies take wood that's been donated or purchased out of his own pocket to create the toys. 

Now, McCarty is also using toy-making to distract him from his own diagnosis of prostate cancer in January of this year, but he says that won't be stopping him anytime soon.

"It gets me out of bed in the morning and puts me in bed at night, tired. It makes an enjoyable life," said McCarty.

Watch more of Norm's story in the video player below:

 

 

 

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