The Story of Flyin Lion

The Flyin Lion:

Did you ever have that moment where you felt things couldn’t get any worse and you needed something or someone to make it all get better? Well, that’s exactly the spirit of The Flyin Lion. ‘Leon’ was created by my dad when I experienced a complication during the recovery of my first surgery at the age of 2. I had just undergone a surgical fusion of the top two vertebrae in my cervical spine to prevent paralysis, which can occur all too often with my type of skeletal dysplasia. My at home recovery involved stabilization of my neck with a “halo” cast. Well, as you might expect a 2 year old to do, I was screaming and crying out in protest and resisting my medicine and I dislodged the two front screws that held my halo in place to my skull. Panic struck and we rushed by ambulance to the hospital to try and avoid serious damage to my spine. My dad, with creativity, calmness, and brilliance took a small stuffed animal ‘lion’ I had and during the ambulance ride started singing this song to try and comfort me:

“I’m a Flyin Lion, you’ll never catch me cryin’. When things go wrong I just sing my song, and it makes me strong, because I’m a Flyin Lion, you’ll never catch me cryin’.

As my father flew my little lion around me, I calmed down enough to get to the hospital and allow the doctors to care for me. On that day, The Flyin Lion was born! He would reappear many more times over the years to protect and accompany me for many more surgeries that were still to come. Now my dad is spreading the magic of The Flyin Lion to my children - his grandchildren: Will and Zoey with a series of stories to help them cope with tough times and to learn lessons of hope, empowerment, caring, along with family traditions and values. I hope that every parent who has ever struggled to quiet an upset child will find comfort in these stories of The Flyin Lion. I know Will and Zoey love to sit on their GrandBa’s (as named by Will his first grandchild) lap and learn these entertaining and life lessons large and small. Today I’m so pleased that many more children may benefit from this gift that my dad gave to me when I was so young and needed someone to make things better. Welcome to the magic of The Flyin Lion.  Jennifer Arnold, M.D.