VICTORIA -- With Santa’s sleigh in the shop getting prepped for a busy Christmas Eve night, the Jolly Old Elf enlisted some help from B.C.’s Air Ambulance today to surprise children in hospitals on the lower mainland and Vancouver Island.
Santa’s first stop was Victoria General Hospital around 9 a.m., Tuesday morning. Accompanied by one of his trusty elves and members of BC Emergency Health Services (BCEHS) and Helijet, the Man-In-Red toured the hospital bringing early joy to sick children and handing out gifts.
“The goal is just to bring a little happiness,” said Santa Claus. “I can’t cure them but I can certainly bring a little happiness and a little stuffed bear is kind of nice as well.”
Santa finished his comments with a deep, bellowing, Ho Ho Ho!
One of the children that Mr. Claus visited was Olivia Mcdonald. Olivia suffers from a rare metabolic disease called TANGO2, which causes her body to go into crisis and her organs to shut down. At only two years of age, Olivia has spent a total of 513 days in the hospital which meant last year she was at the hospital for the annual visit.
“Last year she was nowhere near as well as she is this year,” said Gloria Mcdonald, Olivia’s mother. “So it’s nice to be able to share it with her a bit better this year.”
It was a busy hour of visiting for Santa and his helpers as he hurried through the halls of the Pediatric Unit, meeting as many children as he could find. The holiday crew was taking Christmas gift wishes and putting smiles on kids' faces, which in a hospital can sometimes be a pretty hard thing to do.
Meanwhile, Ray Simms has been a critical care paramedic for 46-years, flying around the province with BC Air Ambulance bringing sick children to hospitals. He has been escorting Santa’s visits with children for the past 15-years that Santa has been doing this. He says this day is his favorite day of the year.
“When children are sick and at their most vulnerable, we fly them to the hospitals for their care,” said Simms. “This is amazing, to see them today with their eyes lit up and looking for Santa, it’s just awesome.”
After making his way through the Pediatric Unit, Kris Kringle headed down a floor to the Oncology Unit where he met some more young admirers.
Lily Lecinana, who suffers from a rare form of Leukemia but is on the mend, gave a very interested Santa Claus an update on her health. She was just in for the day for some blood work and was waiting for her ‘counts to come up.’ Santa responded to her update with a cheer and Ho Ho Ho.
Then it was back to the helipad where Santa and his gang boarded his loaner-helicopter and, with a booming, ‘Merry Christmas!’ flew off to Nanaimo Regional General Hospital to do it all again.
