It was an exciting day for patients, families and staff at the Alberta Children’s Hospital as Santa Claus stopped by for a visit Monday afternoon. STARS Air Ambulance, escorted by a HAWCS police helicopter, safely delivered Santa to the hospital as children waited patiently for a chance to say hello. “I’m here to wish them a Merry Christmas,” said Santa. He also thanked the STARS staff for the safe, warm ride to the hospital. “They were concerned about getting me here safely. It was a nice, smooth ride,” he said. STARS pilot Jennifer Thiel and flight paramedic Leanne McNabb were part of the STARS crew entrusted with this important job. “It was my first time. It’s incredible to see the kids so happy,” said Thiel. “It’s a gift to be able to do this. We’re all super happy to be here,” said McNabb. McNabb said her children were also excited to learn she was part of the crew flying Santa to the hospital. “They’ve already been asking for pictures. They want to hear all about it,” she said. This is the second year STARS has helped make this visit to the Alberta Children’s Hospital possible. “When you look at the windows and you see all these kids looking at both Santa and the helicopter landing, it touches your heart and just gives a bit of a miracle to the kids who will unfortunately be spending Christmas in the hospital and hopefully brings them some joy today,” said Mike Lamacchia, STARS chief operating officer of provincial operations. “It’s joy that you really can’t measure,” said Jo Ann Beckie, Alberta Children’s Hospital senior operating officer. “You can see all the kids around and inside looking out and all the smiles on their faces and on the faces of really everybody who works and volunteers at the Alberta Children’s Hospital.” Santa said he would make sure every child received a gift and that he was looking forward to all the questions they had for him, including how he gets around the world in one night and where the reindeer are. (If you’re curious, the reindeer spent the afternoon at a ranch in Sibbald Creek playing with some horses while Santa visited the children.) Before he headed inside, Santa left us with one final thought: “What is trending before Christmas is joy and kindness and generosity and connection. What I’d like to say to the children, and hope they will listen, and the adults as well, is could we please try to have those trend all through the year, not just the few weeks leading up to Christmas?”
