Pride of NZ awards: Sculptor's gifts 'priceless'

Lisa Wood has been nominated for the Community Spirit award for the work she does for grieving families. Photo / Nick Reed

Bequests of keepsake ‘angel casts’ to departed babies’ bereft parents draw nomination.

Lisa Wood

Community Spirit

Lisa Wood has been creating special keepsakes for newborns for the past few years - making casts of their hands and feet as gifts for their proud parents.

But her job became even more meaningful when a friend asked if she could make moulds of the feet and hands of a friend's baby who had died.

That child changed her life.

"I was so nervous walking into the hospital. The father of this little boy met me in the hall and smiled. He said: 'Come on, let's go meet my son'.

"Their whole family was around as I gently submerged his hands and feet into the liquid to make the mould - and it was perfect."

Mrs Wood, 31, co-owns Features Forever with husband Peter. The business, based in Manurewa, has been popular with parents since it opened in 2009.

Mrs Wood has been making what she now calls "angel casts" for the past four years and has created almost 400 of them for grieving families - all for free.

Each family receives the casts - bronze, silver or gold - of their child's hands and feet, which are mounted on a base with their name on it.

She also prints the child's fingerprints for parents who might like to use them as part of a tattoo or piece of jewellery.

Lisa Wood holds one of her "angel casts". Photo / Nick Reed

"It's really special, actually. You're meeting these babies and it's really humbling.

"I pretend that they're there with me still. I just talk away to them or sing while I'm doing the casts. I was just acting naturally, as you would hold any baby, and didn't realise what I was doing until a mother started crying and thanked me for treating her baby like that."

Mrs Wood has been nominated for the Community Spirit award in this year's Pride of New Zealand Awards; an initiative paying tribute to unsung heroes in the community.

Her nominator - who did not want to be named - said that the gift she had of her loved one was "truly priceless".

Worthy of the name

The Pride of New Zealand Awards are proudly brought to you by The New Zealand Herald, The Hits and TSB Bank.
Nominations for the 2015 awards have now closed.
To see more stories of our wonderful nominees click here.
For more information on the awards go to the official website.