{"id":402057,"date":"2020-12-17T10:09:21","date_gmt":"2020-12-17T15:09:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.marketnewsdesk.com\/?p=402057"},"modified":"2020-12-17T10:09:21","modified_gmt":"2020-12-17T15:09:21","slug":"community-finds-ways-to-safely-cheer-up-kids-at-childrens-hospital","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.marketnewsdesk.com\/index.php\/community-finds-ways-to-safely-cheer-up-kids-at-childrens-hospital\/","title":{"rendered":"Community Finds Ways to Safely Cheer Up Kids at Children’s Hospital"},"content":{"rendered":"

\nCreative pick-me-ups in age of COVID-19 visitor restrictions spread joy at CHKD
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Norfolk, Va, Dec. 17, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — At children\u2019s hospitals across the country, the coronavirus pandemic has meant kids have fewer visitors at their bedside.<\/p>\n

While parents can visit, many kids in the hospital can\u2019t see their brothers and sisters, their friends, their next-door neighbors during inpatient stays. That can make for a long day of recuperating.<\/p>\n

At Children\u2019s Hospital of The King\u2019s Daughters in Norfolk, Va., well-wishers and child life specialists found ways to cheer up children in a safe way, with the creative use of firetruck ladders, glass doors, and 8th<\/sup> floor windows. As the year comes to a close, we’re sharing the joy on children’s faces.<\/p>\n

\n Firefighters equipped to scale heights.<\/b>\n <\/p>\n

Four-year-old Nolan Turner\u2019s love of firetrucks comes to him naturally. After all, his father, Levin Turner, is a captain with the Portsmouth Fire Department.<\/p>\n

So when Nolan was in the hospital in November after being diagnosed with a rare form of lymphoma, buddies from two different fire stations in Norfolk and Portsmouth came to the rescue.<\/p>\n

They arrived with their engines roaring as CHKD security officials cleared the way in the area underneath Nolan\u2019s 5th<\/sup> floor window. They climbed aboard ladders with signs that said, \u201cKeep Fighting!\u201d and \u201cSmall steps every day!\u201d When the ladders reached the fifth floor, one of the firefighters called Nolan on the phone:<\/p>\n

\u201cHey, Nolan, are you near the window?\u201d<\/p>\n

Nolan appeared in the window, smiled from ear to ear, and waved excitedly to his firefighter friends.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have five kids and he\u2019s the one who wants to be a firefighter, that\u2019s his thing. It was so meaningful in so many ways,\u201d Nolan\u2019s dad, Levin Turner, told Channel 13 News reporter Adriana DeAlba<\/a> . \u201cThere\u2019s not a whole lot in this process that has brought the joy back to Nolan, this is about it. This has been a very high point for us. So, it was really appreciated.”<\/p>\n

\n Art and friendship through the glass brightly.<\/b>\n <\/p>\n

The playroom at CHKD looked a little lonely in the first weeks and months of the pandemic, as child life specialists had to limit the number of children playing because of the pandemic.<\/p>\n

But children still get sick, and they still need a distraction from their illness, and someone their own age to play with.\u00a0 As the weeks progressed, child life specialists found ways to get children together.<\/p>\n

Child life specialist Krissy Finch, for instance, put 3-year-old Liliana Dietrich and 4-year-old Eli Feliciano on either side of sliding glass doors in the chemotherapy unit where each was having hours-long treatment. She gave them paint and brushes.<\/p>\n

Voila, not only did art appear, but the two children were able to connect in a safe manner.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was so awesome to see her having some fun in the clinic, and enjoy being a kid for a little bit,\u201d said Liliana\u2019s mother, Amanda Dietrich.<\/p>\n

\n Window washers don superhero costumes to cheer up patients on high.<\/b>\n <\/p>\n

It\u2019s not every day that CHKD patients see superheroes right outside their windows.<\/p>\n

Especially when they\u2019re on the 8th<\/sup> floor.<\/p>\n

One-year-old Jersiah Washington did, though, when Spiderman swooped down in June to wave to him from outside the boy\u2019s window at CHKD. Spiderman was swinging down from ropes attached to the rooftop because he is also one of many window cleaners from Valcourt Building Services who regularly don superhero costumes to entertain the children as the employees clean and squeegee the windows of the patients\u2019 rooms.<\/p>\n

The visit by superheroes from behind a thick pane of glass was an unexpected treat, with just the right amount of social distancing.<\/p>\n

Jersiah\u2019s mother, Sha\u2019Qualia Nowell, who lives in Virginia Beach, enjoyed the visit, too. \u201cIt\u2019s a great experience for the kids.\u201d<\/p>\n

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