Lucky Lizard Studios Unique Boutique

This is a story of one unexpected moment between a paramedic and a patient became a mission that would touch tens of thousands of lives.

In the Tragic, There's Magic!

More than 27 years ago, Caryn “CJ” Jaffe was working as a paramedic on a pediatric hematology/oncology unit. Like many healthcare workers during long overnight hours, she and her colleagues found small ways to stay awake and grounded during physically & emotionally demanding shifts. 

One unexpected overnight night shift, CJ and her charge nurse got craft supplies from the unit’s playroom and created a small, beaded lizard out of pony beads. CJ initially put up resistance, saying. “I don’t bead.” Despite that objection, she and her colleague successfully constructed the creature although CJ’s looked very different than the instructions said it would.

The craft wasn’t intended to be anything extraordinary. It was simply something to keep her hands busy and eyes open during a sustained lull in unit activity. 

She didn’t follow the directions right, and still jokes that she took some extra creative liberties but was proud of her successfully unsuccessful attempt. She clipped it to her hospital ID badge and returned to her work.

Days later, one of her patients—a teenager facing the unimaginable weight of cancer— had a “very bad day.” She introduced him to her small, beaded creature calling it a “Lucky Lizard.” To provide him comfort, she said, “I know you’re worried about getting out of bed later. I also know..,”

“...The Lucky Lizard’s gonna make it okay.”

Hours later, CJ and the charge nurse returned to the teen’s room to help him out of bed. He completed his walk around his room, sat down on the on the edge of his bed and let out a huge sigh of relief. He then pointed to CJ’s Lucky Lizard, and said, “Give me that.”

She told him it was a Lucky Lizard.

She told him it was for strength.

He showed her, it was for hope, later explaining he repeated “The Lucky Lizard’s’ gonna make it okay,” over and over and over for 2 hours straight.

In those moments, something shifted.

The Lucky Lizard became more than beads and craft lace. It became a symbol. A companion. A source of comfort during a time when comfort and calm was often difficult to find.

Her patient’s response made it clear: something small could carry enormous meaning. This was later affirmed by a nurse manager from a different unit awarded CJ with the hospital’s The All-Star Award for using her Lucky Lizard to reassure a patient who was having a “very bad day,” 

From that day forward, CJ continued making Lucky Lizards.

At first, for individual patients and friends.

Then for entire hospital units.

Then for hospitals across the country.

Then for everyday people who deserve a tangible reminder that ‘We never walk alone.’

To date, CJ has crafted more than 90,000 Lucky Lizards in over 100 different designs and in 5 different sizes. She knows she has never made 2 alike. She’s used them to fundraise for various charitable organizations. have been donated to children, patients, caregivers, friends, healthcare workers, and athletes nationwide and internationally. 

Each one is still handcrafted by CJ.

Each one is still 100% unique.

Each one still carries the same message that was shared all those years ago:

You are not alone.

You are stronger than you know.

There is always hope.

From music to medicine, orchestras to Ironman, patient to paramedic, 911 EMS to working as a medic for the 1996 Olympic Games and then a pediatric critical care transport team member,, fear of heights to high flying trapeze school office manager and nurse, irrational fear of fish to resuscitating one in an IV Bag hanging next to a 9 year old's chemotherapy infusion. from exhaustion to energy created by colors,

Caryn Jaffe's outrageous life filled with dramatic, unexpected change would be hard to fictionalize! She says there is at least one moment every day when she thinks, "There is NO WAY anyone is going to believe THIS."

FROM MUSIC TO MEDICINE

ORCHESTRAS TO IRONMAN

PATIENT TO PARAMEDIC TO NURSE

RN TO LEGAL NURSE CONSULTANT

As a chronically ill teenager braving the world of tick-borne illness, CJ was forced to live with flexible spontaneity, and A willingness to discover unusual methods to make things work. Little did she know she'd become a very creative and colorful problem solver whose enthusiasm and skill would bring people together and help them feel better.

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