'It means everything to the kids': Santa flown in by helicopter to visit Stollery patients
The Royal Canadian Air Force flew a special guest to the Stollery Children's Hospital Wednesday to spread holiday cheer.
As part of Operation HOHOHO, Santa flew in on a Griffon helicopter to visit kids and families at the hospital.
"It means everything to the kids," said Kyra Murdoch, a certified child life specialist. "(For) kids that are here, long term or short term, December is the month that they're going to be talking about Santa and visiting Santa and writing letters to Santa.
"To have Santa come and visit all the kids here, it's just, it's absolutely amazing."
Operation HOHOHO began in 2003 when members of the 400 Tactical Helicopter Squadron delivered toys to the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto.
"Part of our job as child life specialists is to create those normal situations and environments and just having Santa here really brings back the normalcy for these kids and lets them be kids again," Murdoch said.
The event began in Edmonton in 2017 and it's something the kids and the military look forward to each year.
"It's really important for us … coming here and seeing the kids, when we bring Santa in front of them, and we give them their teddy bears, they're so happy, and that means the world to us," said Lt.-Col. Melissa Snook, the commanding officer of the 408 Tactical Helicopter Squadron.
"We love doing it every year and we will keep doing it every year."
It's such a popular event, the crew seats on the helicopter are auctioned off to see who will participate. The money from that is used to buy teddy bears for the kids.
Kids like Michaela Rae, one of the patients at the Stollery, enjoyed meeting Santa. She said her favourite part was seeing him come out of the helicopter.
Snook estimates a few hundred bears have been given to sick kids at the Stollery through this event since it started.
With files from CTV News Edmonton's Evan Kenny
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
opinion How will the weak Canadian dollar affect your holiday and travel plans?
As the Canadian dollar loses ground against major global currencies, personal finance contributor Christopher Liew explains how current exchange rates can impact your travel plans, and shares tips to help you plan smarter and protect your wallet.
Words on ammo in CEO shooting echo common phrase on insurer tactics: Delay, deny, defend
A message left at the scene of a health insurance executive's fatal shooting — 'deny,' 'defend' and 'depose' — echoes a phrase commonly used to describe insurer tactics to avoid paying claims.
Saskatoon-based dog rescue operator ordered to pay $27K for defamatory Facebook posts
A Saskatoon-based dog rescue operator has been ordered to pay over $27,000 in damages to five women after a judge ruled she defamed them in several Facebook posts.
Could the discovery of an injured, emaciated dog help solve the mystery of a missing B.C. man?
When paramedic Jim Barnes left his home in Fort St. John to go hunting on Oct. 18, he asked his partner Micaela Sawyer — who’s also a paramedic — if she wanted to join him. She declined, so Barnes took the couple’s dog Murphy, an 18-month-old red golden retriever with him.
The world has been warming faster than expected. Scientists now think they know why
Last year was the hottest on record, oceans boiled, glaciers melted at alarming rates, and it left scientists scrambling to understand exactly why.
Police scour New York for suspect two days after UnitedHealth executive gunned down
Armed with a growing file of clues, New York police on Friday were scouring surveillance videos and asking the public for help in their search for the masked assailant who gunned down a UnitedHealth executive on a Midtown Manhattan sidewalk.
Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim admits to being 'orange pilled' in Bitcoin interview
Bitcoin is soaring to all-time highs, and Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim wants the city to get in on the action.
Catholic nun among 25 arrested in mob bust in northern Italy
A Catholic nun with the Sisters of Charity Institute in Milan was among 25 people arrested early Thursday morning for a litany of mafia-related crimes, including aiding and abetting extortion, drug trafficking, receiving stolen goods, usury, tax crimes and money laundering.
Canada expands list of banned firearms to include hundreds of new models and variants
The Canadian government is expanding its list of banned firearms, adding hundreds of additional makes, models and their variants, effective immediately.