Mom of a preemie crochets colorful yarn octopi for tiny tots at Detroit hospital NICU

DETROIT (AP) — Joelle Haley went into labor on Christmas Day, giving birth to a son two days later — premature at 24 weeks. In the soothing darkness of a Detroit hospital room a little something was missing for the newborn Kieran and his mom. Turns out that something was a colorful batch of soft yarn Haley would crochet into a small, tentacled octopus.

For preemies in the Children’s Hospital of Michigan Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at DMC Hutzel Women’s Hospital, dozens of the cuddly, donated octopi get their attention and help keep small hands from grabbing and tugging on tubes and wires that help keep them alive.

“It was very hard to leave my son here, knowing he was in good hands even, because I was afraid ‘what if he’s upset and he has nothing or no one to comfort him in that moment?’” Haley said Thursday. “Just knowing he has something near him that brings him comfort helps me feel better so that I can also take care of me.”

Called Amigurumi, from the Japanese art of crafting small plush animals from yarn, the octopi are mostly crocheted in a blaze of colors.

Haley began making the octopi after overhearing a nurse saying some would be helpful in the NICU. Having crocheted since second grade, the 30-year-old began filling that need, so far making about 20. She also reached across social media for help.

“The last time I counted there had been 175 that had been donated, and there are more on the way. They came from all over Michigan,” she said while delivering some to the hospital where they were placed in bassinets with newborns.

Some babies receiving care require breathing support, said Dr. Jorge Lua, medical director at the Children’s Hospital of Michigan Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at DMC Hutzel Women’s Hospital.

“It’s important that we keep the tube in. Some babies will grab onto them and accidentally pull them out," Lua said. "Let’s say the breathing tubes comes out, then the baby will have breathing issues. They’re not able to breath. Their oxygenation goes down. It may make the time longer to stabilize them.”

Haley said she often saw her infant son tug at the tubes connecting him to NICU equipment.

“It helps me feel, like comforted, that I was able to help other children," Haley said. "Seeing my son with his helps me know that he'll be safe and comforted when I'm not here. So, I hope it brings that same feeling to other families.”

Haley said it takes her about 30 minutes to make one of the octopi.

“My mom taught me to help with anxiety," she said of crocheting. "The repetitive motion gives me something to focus on and it just helps me feel calmer.”

Joelle Haley crochets at the Children's Hospital of Michigan Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at DMC Hutzel Women's Hospital in Detroit, Thursday, Feb. 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Corey Williams)

Joelle Haley crochets at the Children's Hospital of Michigan Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at DMC Hutzel Women's Hospital in Detroit, Thursday, Feb. 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Corey Williams)

Newborn Tayshaun Nelms Jr. rests with an amigurumi octopi at the Children's Hospital of Michigan Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at DMC Hutzel Women's Hospital in Detroit, Thursday, Feb. 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Corey Williams)

Joelle Haley holds amigurumi octopi at the Children's Hospital of Michigan Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at DMC Hutzel Women's Hospital in Detroit, Thursday, Feb. 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Corey Williams)

NEW YORK (AP) — A 27-year-old man was arrested Thursday after New York City police said officers were hurt when they were pelted with snow and ice during a massive snowball fight in Washington Square Park this week.

The man, Gusmane Coulibaly, has been charged with obstructing governmental administration, a misdemeanor, and harassment, a non-criminal violation, according to online court records. Police had arrested Coulibaly on a charge of assaulting a police officer, a felony, but prosecutors declined to pursue that.

He was expected to appear in court Thursday evening.

The arrest came after Monday's snowball fight, which appeared to be organized by social media content producers, caused a chaotic scene as a large crowd amassed at the popular park to wing snowballs at each other during a winter storm.

Police said officers arrived at the park after a 911 call about a disorderly group there. A video shows two officers getting bombarded by snowballs as a rowdy crowd yells and films with their phones. The officers shoved at least two people to the ground as they paced a walkway in the park while getting hit from all directions by snowballs.

The department said multiple officers were hit in the face with snowballs, and a spokesperson for the union has said two police officers were treated at a nearby hospital for face, head and neck injuries.

Mayor Zohran Mamdani, a Democrat, played down the fracas as a “snowball fight that got out of hand” and suggested he did not think criminal charges were warranted.

The city's police department has pursued the matter, releasing images of four people it said it was searching for. Jessica Tisch, the police commissioner, has called the snowball fight “disgraceful” and “criminal.”

In this photo taken from video, people throw and duck snowballs during a snowball fight at Washington Square Park, Monday, February. 23, 2026 in New York. (AP Photo/David R. Martin)

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani speaks during a news conference in Morningside Heights in New York, Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Ferries pass Brooklyn Bridge Park along the East River, Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)