The Ottawa Senators made their annual holiday visit to CHEO Monday afternoon. The entire team toured room to room at the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario before holding an open meet and greet for patients and families in the hospital’s cafeteria. For the McDonald family, whose son Parker has been in and out of CEHO for four years battling cancer, a visit from the Ottawa Senators was a welcome change from the routine hospital visits. “It’s been a long, long, tough road for Parker, so it’s nice to see him with the extra smile on his face today,” said Stephanie McDonald, Parker’s mother. “It’s so special. I think they don’t realize how much they’re Parker’s heroes, although he’s a hero to everyone else. They’re his idols, so it’s nice for them to come out of their way to do this for the kids here.” Sens goaltender Linus Ullmark told CTV News that the team’s visits to CHEO and Roger Neilson Children’s Hospice are some of his favourite outings of the season. “When you go into a room and you see they’re a little bit hesitant, but then when you leave and they have a smile on their face, you know that you’ve accomplished your mission and that’s all there is to it,” he said. The team and CHEO have a long-standing relationship, providing tickets and opportunities to families at the hospital. That’s how the Dow family came to be Senators fans; their daughter Charley has been battling cancer for more than six months. “It was great, I had lots of fun today,” said Charley after meeting the team, adding that opportunities such as these organized by CHEO, “make it a way better experience instead of just staying in a hospital bed all day.” For young Charley, it was a chance to reconnect with her favourite player Jake Sanderson, who had come to visit her in hospital in the months prior. On Monday, Charley came prepared for their reunion. “I gave him Swedish Berries because last time I saw him, he said that his favorite candy was Swedish Fish. So, we went to look for some, and we couldn’t look see any. So, we found some Swedish Berries instead.” Ullmark says it is days like this that offer perspective on the life him and his teammates have come to live. “When you see their smile and you’re having the conversations that you had and you get to learn about what their favorite toy is, their favorite color, or whatever it might be, it fills your heart and your soul in such an unmatchable way.”
