Canes bring smiles to pediatrics unit
Players come bearing stuffed toys for young patients
Brody Stewart was able to get up and walk out of Chinook Regional Hospital Thursday morning. And the eight-year-old, soon-to-be nine-year-old, Novice Tier 2 Hurricanes player had only been at the pediatrics unit since Monday morning when his eye was swollen shut. Stewart is lucky, as many other children at CRH will be there for extended periods of time.
“It was just an awful cold that went into his eye,” Catherine, his mother, said. “He just bloomed right up within hours.”
“Huge improvement since then,” said John Stewart, Brody’s father, adding doctors called it a freak event.
Stewart was one of the children who received a special visit by members of the Lethbridge Hurricanes Thursday, as the WHL players were bringing some of the 2,761 stuffed bears collected last weekend.
“I liked it because I got these stuffies,” Stewart said, adding he picked one from Ryan Vandervlis, his favourite player.
Stewart is supposed to have a hockey tournament this weekend, but won’t be ready to get back on the ice just yet. He was in good spirits Thursday, though, and even took a playful jab at Canes goalie Stuart Skinner, much to the amusement of Skinner’s teammates.
Skinner was there with half a dozen players, including captain Giorgio Estephan and Jake Elmer, the 2017 Teddy Bear goal-scorer last Saturday.
“It’s a special moment when you score a big goal like that,” Elmer said.
“It was really special for me seeing those bears fly and, really, a lot of emotion and a lot of excitement. You score that goal and you know it’s for a good cause. It’s just a really good experience for everyone. It’s heartwarming. Some of these kids are in the hospital for a long time. It’s really good to see a little bit of a smile on their face, a little bit of joy you can bring to them.”
“It’s extremely humbling,” Estephan said. “I know some of the kids have had some tough days. It’s nice to be able to brighten their day a little bit. It’s definitely a special feeling and one that you definitely don’t forget.”
Maria Malcolm, child life specialist in CRH’s pediatrics unit, said this tradition does not get old.
“It really means so much to have them come in,” she said.
“The hospital is scary. You’re hurt, you’re sick, and you have to come here with a bunch of strangers doing strange and painful things to you. So to have the Hurricanes walk in and put a smile on the kids’ faces, it makes them feel special. It really makes a huge difference to the kids, and the parents, too.”
This initiative does not just run during the holidays, however. Teddy bears get handed our year-round in pediatrics, in emergency, and in recovery.
“Wherever we see kids, we make sure there’s bears around,” Malcolm said.
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