Santa Claus receives a lift from firefighters to visit children at CHEO

Santa and firefighters drop into CHEO Ottawa firefighters and Santa pay a special visit to kids at CHEO. CTV's Peter Szperling reports.

For children spending Christmas away from home, sick at a hospital, it can be a difficult time; so, when Santa came to visit, he brought smiles.

On Friday, children at CHEO received a visit from someone special. Ottawa Firefighters, along with specially trained elves helped Santa drop in.

Santa climbed an Ottawa Fire Service ladder truck to say, 'HO HO HO' to children inside the hospital, as elves rappelled from the roof, waving through windows.

"Such a great day, the kids really enjoyed it," said Scott Williams, firefighter and chair of the Ottawa Professional Firefighters Association Charities Committee.

"Sheer joy, the kids just loved it. I saw so many happy faces, so many smiles; it was such a heart-warming time. It’s been such a rough year for everyone, and we were very happy to just be able to bring this little moment of joy and fun for the kids here."

Some children from Roger Neilson House and the CHEO school even got to see Santa with the fire truck afterwards.

"It was incredible, the kids were so excited," said Kevin Keohane, CHEO Foundation President and CEO. "Santa coming to visit is a very, very big deal in the life of a child; and Santa today - he came, he delivered, he put smiles on their faces.  The firefighters that came today, those guys should be so proud; they created so many smiles and really created a very special day here."

The Ottawa Professional Firefighters Association also donated $10,000.

"Such a great facility, helping the kids is so important," said Williams.