Parade let hospitalized child be a regular kid
Watching the event allowed youngster to make holiday memories and forget her illness
“When she was little, the Santa Claus Parade was always one of Stephanie’s favourite events of the year,” says Denise Clayton of her now 16-year-old daughter.
Like most kids, Stephanie Clayton liked to dream about the gifts Santa would bring, but mainly she worried about how he would find her on Christmas Eve, and whether he’d be able to get to her without a chimney — there was never a fireplace in her hospital room.
Stephanie spent most of the first nine years of her life in SickKids hospital. She was born with an omphalocele, a birth defect where the abdominal organs protrude from the belly button. Stephanie’s condition has required hundreds of invasive procedures and numerous surgeries over the years. As a little girl, her condition required her to be admitted to hospital almost all of the time, including during the holidays.
That meant her family, including her mom; her dad, Greg; and sisters, Danielle and Sydney, spent Christmastime in the hospital, too.
“We decided from the beginning if Stephanie was going to be there, we were all going to be there,” Denise says. As a result, their family traditions unfolded a bit differently.
“Rather than have a turkey at our home, around the kitchen table, we would have a turkey in the cafeteria at SickKids hospital,” Denise says. “My husband would cook it and bring it in.” Watching the parade became a cornerstone of their celebrations, and one way or another, they always watched the floats, marching bands and clowns make their way through downtown.
“If Stephanie was in isolation, we watched it from her hospital room on TV,” Denise says. But there were a few years when they were able to make it down to the street to watch the parade march by in person. One parade year in particular stands out for the Clayton family. Stephanie was 4 years old and very anxious about seeing Santa, but also very ill.
“She was quite sick and hooked up to a lot of machinery, and it was very cold that day,” Denise says. The hospital staff didn’t know for sure what would happen if they wheeled her out into the sub-zero temperature. “But two very kind and brave nurses said they’d do it, they’d risk taking her down,”
“It was important to her mental health
and to us as a family, because it was something we liked to do.”
So, armed with clamps in case one of the IV lines snapped in the cold, the family stood in front of SickKids hospital, with all the other families gathered on the sidewalk, and watched the parade go by.
“We had so many laughs, and my sisters and I were so excited and in awe of the floats and all the lights and music,” Stephanie says. “It was really fun and a day we will always remember.”
“Actually seeing Santa there and all of the Christmas spirit of the parade gave her a positive outlook on things so she could go back into the hospital and start tackling that illness,” Denise says.
“But for that hour or two, she was able to leave the sick behind and just be a regular kid, like all the other kids who were so excited about the parade.”
Stephanie says she’s much better now, but she still struggles with her condition.
“It’s definitely a roller-coaster ride, that’s how I describe it,” she says. “There are a lot of ups and downs.”
And she still has chronic pain that has to be managed. “The biggest issue for me is learning how to deal with normal life as a person with chronic pain and trying to navigate school and the unknown of what my pain could be like in the future,” she says.
Stephanie, now in Grade 11, attends a boarding school outside the city, so she won’t catch the parade this year. She’s excited for all of the children who are looking forward to seeing Santa’s sleigh glide through the streets of Toronto, though. Especially those with serious illnesses, like hers.
“For kids who are admitted to hospital long term, we don’t get to make the same memories as other kids,” Stephanie says.
“It’s a magical thing to be able to watch the parade — it’s a memory that will stick with you through your hospital journey and for life.”