12-year-old Ryder was waiting for treatment at NRGH when he was surprised by Santa Claus Tuesday morning. (Jordan Davidson/NanaimoNewsNOW.com)

By Jordan Davidson

DROPPING IN

VIDEO: Santa arrives in style to lift spirits at Nanaimo hospital

Dec 13, 2022 | 4:41 PM

NANAIMO — Rudolph and company had the day off as Santa Claus touched down in the city.

Jolly old St. Nick stopped by Nanaimo Regional General Hospital (NRGH) Tuesday, Dec. 13 to pay a visit to the kids who are spending part of the holiday season in hospital.

Santa said he’s thrilled to be doing this for the 18th year, thanks to a partnership between the North Pole, HeliJet and BC Emergency Health Services (BCEHS).

“It’s absolutely amazing, you got some extremely sick children and all of a sudden they brighten up…it’s like something has been lifted off of them, and all of a sudden they go ‘oh wow, Santa!’, which is really nice. I want every child to know, that if they’re in hospital over Christmas, Santa would never forget you. Ho ho ho.”

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One of the elves helping him make his rounds was an infant transport paramedic with BCEHS Joanna Stefani, who said staff at hospitals are almost as excited to see the big guy as the kids are.

“They are lined up and it’s so nice of them, and it’s a good break for them to get to see something exciting like this happen. The children, a lot of them are, unfortunately, are in isolation, but they get to come to the window and they get to get their pictures with Santa and they are just so excited.”

Courtney Hartwig’s two-month-old son Qasper was admitted into NRGH over the weekend for the second time in his young life, this time for a yet-to-be-determined respiratory illness.

Hartwig said seeing Santa is more of a mood lifter for her and Qasper’s father, which was greatly appreciated.

“It’s definitely lifting our spirit, it’s been a tough weekend for us. It’s so nice to see, and he’s obviously not old enough yet to really understand, but it’ll be fun to tell him when he gets older.”

Courtney Hartwig’s family had their spirits lifted during a difficult time thanks to a visit from Santa. (Jordan Davidson/NanaimoNewsNOW)

Along with thanking Santa, Hartwig was incredibly grateful to all the staff at NRGH.

“They have been fabulous, we’re very pleased to live in a country that has such wonderful medical care, so we’re very thankful for that.”

Santa’s first stop of the day was at Victoria General Hospital before jetting over to Nanaimo.

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jordan@nanaimonewsnow.com

On Twitter: @JordanDHeyNow