'Comforted and happy': Calgary youth shares stuffies with kids in hospital

A young teen is making sure kids are comforted in the emergency ward of Calgary's South Health Campus.

Patrick Hanley, 13 years old, started collecting stuffies to hand out on Christmas Eve 10 years ago and now it's become a family tradition.

"I'm trying to make sure that every kid that goes into hospital, that aren't as fortunate as I was and didn't have stuffies, can be feel comforted while they're in such a rough place," Patrick told CTV News.

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When he was four years old, his parents rushed him to the hospital with a croup cough.

"He was a preemie," said Heather Hanley, Patrick's mom.

"So, we always panic when you know something happens with the lungs because he came two months early, he is a Christmas baby, he was supposed to be a Valentine's baby."

Patrick remembers that it was a frightening experience, but it was a little easier because he grabbed a stuffie before leaving for the emergency room.

"My nana gave it to me – it's a stuffy bunny," he said.

"I just called it 'Bunny', but that's the stuffie I always had when I was growing up so of course it was one of the only things I brought with me when I was sick."

Patrick saw that other kids didn't have anything to comfort them at the hospital and when he left, he wanted to change that.

"I feel like I wasn't as worried about the situation, I was more comforted and happy because I had something there that was familiar with me," he said.

"When you're younger, you always kind of need something to feel safe around."

"Patrick came back and said you know, there were other kids there that didn't have stuffies," said Heather. "And he felt really sad for them because he had his bunny and it made him feel so much better so when his birthday came in December that next year, knowing that Santa was coming a couple days later because he's a Christmas baby, he said he would like to not get gifts from his friends at his birthday party."

So, for his fifth birthday on Dec. 22, Patrick asked his friends to bring stuffies instead of presents so he could hand them out to kids at the hospital on Christmas Eve.

"The first year we got 12 and I think last year we got like 150," said Patrick.

"So, it's been growing quite a bit, my friends will bring me stuffies for my birthday to donate and then I'll usually have them all over for like a hang out, or we'll go to the movies or something."

Heather says it's become a family affair to head to the hospital on Dec. 24 and they've been working with Catherine, the charge nurse, since the very first year to hand out stuffies.

"My husband and I carry the Santa's bags and we stand back and just let him do his thing," she said.

"He and Catherine have developed a really great relationship over the years, she's watched him grow up from the time he's five and is turning 14 this year so this will be the 10th year that he's going up to the hospital on Christmas Eve to give the stuffies."

Patrick says he enjoys watching the children receiving stuffies go from having sad expressions to happy ones while they're waiting to see doctors.

He says one boy who received a stuffie is now paying it forward.

"Kieran, he was 13 months old and he was in the children's ward and I brought in stuffies," said Patrick.

"He's seven now and he's donating to my drive every year."

"He's had a giving spirit from the day he was born," said Heather. "We're just so proud of him, he's just the light of our life, he realized that there were other people who maybe didn't have everything he did and he recognized that from such a young age and wanted to make a difference."

Patrick says he'll continue his 'stuffies for sick kids' drive for as long as he can make a difference in the lives of children who have to visit the emergency ward at the South Health Campus during the holidays.