Gamers put smiles on faces of sick children and fogeys, however it’s additionally necessary to acknowledge work of employees at Montreal Youngsters’s Hospital.
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The Canadiens made their annual Christmas go to to the Montreal Youngsters’s Hospital on Tuesday afternoon.
The go to is meant to carry some vacation cheer to sick children and their mother and father throughout a troublesome time. The hospital employees additionally enjoys seeing the gamers.
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It’s a beautiful occasion.
“I bear in mind getting these visits ever since I used to be a resident and feeling the identical pleasure yearly,” Dr. Helena Evangeliou, a common pediatrician on the hospital, mentioned as she watched a bunch of gamers that included Cole Caufield, Mike Matheson, Sean Monahan and Jayden Struble go from room to room visiting sufferers and bringing items. “We actually admire the enjoyment that they carry to us.”
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Sixteen-month previous Everley Elliott entertains Montreal Canadiens’ Cole Caufield, whereas mom Melissa Drover seems on, in the course of the Habs’ annual go to to the Montreal Youngsters’s Hospital on Tuesday Dec. 5, 2023.Picture by Pierre Obendrauf /Montreal Gazette
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Sixteen-month previous Everley Elliott waves goodbye to Montreal Canadiens’ Cole Caufield, and Sean Monahan whereas mom Melissa Drover seems on, in the course of the Habs’ annual go to to the Montreal Youngsters’s Hospital on Tuesday Dec. 5, 2023.Picture by Pierre Obendrauf /Montreal Gazette
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4-month previous William Gaillot will get a fist bump from Montreal Canadiens’ Cole Caufield (22) with teammates Jayden Struble (gray hat) and Mike Matheson, background, whereas mom Anais Plenard seems on, in the course of the Habs’ annual go to to the Montreal Youngsters’s Hospital on Tuesday Dec. 5, 2023.Picture by Pierre Obendrauf /Montreal Gazette
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Nolan Dufour will get a go to from Montreal Canadiens’ Cole Caufield (22) and Mike Matheson (8) in the course of the Habs’ annual go to to the Montreal Youngsters’s Hospital on Tuesday Dec. 5, 2023.Picture by Pierre Obendrauf /Montreal Gazette
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Six-year-old Oli Boisvert will get assist opening a present by Montreal Canadiens’ Jayden Struble, in the course of the Habs’ annual go to to the Montreal Youngsters’s Hospital on Tuesday Dec. 5, 2023.Picture by Pierre Obendrauf /Montreal Gazette
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Street to the Cup
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One of many sufferers the gamers visited was Everley Elliott. The 16-month-old woman is cute as a button with an infectious giggle and a smile that lit up the room when the gamers walked in. Everley’s mom, Melissa Drover, was additionally smiling.
“I believe she likes the eye,” Melissa mentioned.
Melissa wasn’t smiling when she arrived on the hospital with Everley final Thursday with a mysterious an infection on the little woman’s proper knee.
“I don’t assume I’ve ever cried a lot in my life,” the mom mentioned. “There have been so many unanswered questions.”
Melissa and her husband, Luke Elliott, dwell in Rigaud and weren’t in a position to get any medical solutions to their questions on Everley’s knee, so that they drove to Montreal after the little woman was not in a position to stroll. Final Friday, Everley had a knee faucet and surgical procedure, adopted by MRIs to verify the an infection hadn’t unfold elsewhere in her little physique.
On Monday, medical doctors confirmed Everley had a kingella kingae viral an infection and so they had been monitoring her Tuesday to see if the antibiotics she’s now taking are working. Her mother and father acquired the excellent information later Tuesday afternoon that they may carry Everley again house.
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“Life has been slightly hectic,” Melissa mentioned. “Now we have a 3-year-old (daughter) at house, too, that we’re attempting to care for as properly. Thank God for my mother and father. They flew down (from Toronto) to assist out.”
Melissa mentioned it took her an hour to drive house from the hospital Monday night time and 90 minutes to drive again Tuesday morning.
“It’s tough, however you do what you possibly can to verify your youngster will get by,” Melissa mentioned. “The employees right here is superb. They’ve been tremendous useful.”
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Matheson and his spouse, Emily, have a 2-year-old son named Hudson. Going right into a hospital room and seeing a sick youngster like Everley most likely hits Matheson slightly more durable than his youthful Canadiens teammates who don’t have children.
“It’s combined feelings,” Matheson mentioned. “You need to have the ability to brighten their day up slightly, however it clearly places quite a bit into perspective as a mum or dad. I can’t think about what the mother and father are going by way of — and the children themselves. Hopefully this (go to) permits them to consider one thing else for the jiffy we get to spend with them.”
Matheson added that the response from the children, mother and father and hospital employees is a reminder of how a lot the Canadiens imply to individuals in Montreal. The hospital go to was additionally a reminder to him in regards to the significance of medical doctors like Evangeliou.
“I believe COVID put into perspective numerous what medical doctors and nurses do and all of the professionals that work within the hospitals and the way a lot they work and the way gruelling their hours are,” Matheson mentioned. “They deal with all their sufferers like they’re household and prefer it’s their very own children … they put their hearts into all the things. It’s such an honourable factor. As a lot as we’re right here to see the sufferers and their households, I believe it’s additionally a pleasant factor for the professionals that work right here to get acknowledged.”
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Associated Tales
Evangeliou mentioned she has a tender spot for Matheson as a result of he grew up in Pointe-Claire, the West Island municipality she now calls house. Her daughter goes to the identical elementary faculty, École Marguerite-Bourgeoys, that Matheson attended as a child. He visited the varsity in September to talk with college students.
“This (Canadiens go to) is a longstanding custom for us on the hospital,” Evangeliou mentioned. “It signifies that the vacation season is approaching and it warms our hearts. I believe for the youngsters that must spend this time of yr within the hospital it’s additional particular.”
As for her personal job, Evangeliou mentioned: “For us, it’s greater than only a job. It’s our calling. It’s actually a ardour. It’s not simply caring for the children. It’s additionally creating a pleasant work surroundings.. We love working with one another and dealing with individuals. Coming to the hospital day-after-day is a extremely constructive expertise. The children make it straightforward as a result of they’re lovely and so they get higher actually fast … faster than adults.”
Fortunately, that was the case with Everley and hopefully this shall be a really Merry Christmas for the little woman and her household.
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