‘They are not alone’
Sydney family gives stockings to kids in hospital at Christmas
Nichol MacNeil and her family know all too well what it’s like to be in the hospital at Christmastime. It’s why she’s adding a lot of extra little boys and girls to her Christmas shopping list this year.
She’s the mom of nine-yearold Devon, who has a host of medical problems, including cerebral palsy, that have meant frequent and sometimes long hospital stays stretching into the holiday season and beyond.
Memories of those past stays are why she’s filling Christmas stockings this year in hopes that they will put smiles on young faces who find themselves in the same situation.
“They are not alone. We’ve been there, we know what it is like for families to be in hospitals,” said MacNeil.
“You know some of those kids just have a virus, some are going through a tougher time. There’s such a variety of sick kids that go in and out of that pediatric unit and we’ve seen it first hand. To be able to put a smile on their face with little something in stockings, it makes a difference to that child.”
Unfortunately, the MacNeil’s experience with hospitals is extensive and not likely to end in the near future.
Devon spent the first couple of hours of his life in the local neonatal intensive care unit before being airlifted to Halifax. He was back there three months later for surgery and in hospitals many more times since.
“That’s our family, and as long as he is old enough to be in (pediatrics), that is going to be our family. They are always giving to us, so we would like to give something back to them.”
Even amongst a family-like environment, being in hospital as the holidays approach is not ideal.
“You are always worried. You have everything in the back of your mind about how this is going to work, especially if you are a single parent,” she said.
“I’m a single parent, so my oldest son comes with me wherever we go so you are thinking in your mind how is this going to work if you are in the hospital over the holidays.”
She hopes sending stockings to children in the neonatal intensive care unit and the pediatrics unit at the Cape Breton Regional Hospital will ease that stress for some families.
The idea is less than a week old, but already gaining momentum thanks to some well-placed social media posts. Initially, she was going to fill a few stockings on her own, but early response from people who want to help has her thinking bigger.
“It’s such a wonderful feeling to be out there doing something that is so close to our hearts. We know how it feels to be in hospital. We know the impact it has on families.”
Even though the idea was to help others at Christmas, she can’t help but notice how it has brought her family closer together.
“My oldest is right into it. He’s been helping pick stuff out when we were out the other day he was picking stuff up and trying to match things,” she said.
“I see another side of my son, Sean, that I think is fabulous. It teaches him about giving and not just about receiving and it teaches him about giving to people.”
Young Devon doesn’t speak, but his emotions tell her exactly how he feels about the stocking project.
“He gets excited when you talk to him about it. He doesn’t speak, but he is happy.”
Items she is collecting are for all ages — infant to 17 — and include candy and fruit and just about anything that can fit into a stocking.
For more information, contact her through Facebook (Nichol Theresa MacNeil), by email at elmo_1899@hotmail.com or by phone at 902-270-6073.
“Christmas is all about the kids and what better way to show that than by helping the ones in the hospital,” she said.
“Hopefully, we won’t be one of those this year, but for us every day is a dayto-day basis. We never know when we are going to be in the hospitals. That is typical of a lot of kids like my son.”