Santa Claus visits patients and families at UVA Children's Hospital

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (WVIR) — After delivering presents all night, Santa made sure to stop by UVA Children’s Hospital on Sunday to distribute gifts to children and families there.

“We do one of the things that really is the meaning of Christmas; this in a hospital give joy and comfort to many children, ”santa claus said.

William is 22 months old and spends his Christmas days in hospital.

“This Good Samaritan donor is an unknown person to us, but he gave William his Christmas miracle and he had his liver transplant 11 days ago,” said Maria Bell, William’s mother.

Now, after the transplant, not only are holiday moods high, but so is the relief for the family.

“We’re just thankful that he’s healthy and doing well, and that’s the best Christmas gift we could wish for,” Bell said.

William has not seen his siblings for over two weeks. That wait came to an end on Sunday, as the hospital allowed them to visit for the holidays.

While a hospital isn’t usually the most joyous place to celebrate, special moments like reunions or a visit from Santa Claus are reminders of the Christmas season.

“I was able to go in and surprise the family, especially the little baby, and we all just had a good time, took a lot of pictures and gave them a lot of ‘ho ho ho’. So it just felt right because of a surprise to the extended family that the baby woke up and saw Santa and his eyes lit up and man my eyes lit up even more. And so, it’s like, yeah, so that’s something that I think will stick with Santa for the next 364 days,” Santa said.

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