BOZEMAN - One care team at Bozeman Deaconess Regional Medical Center made a young patient's Christmas extra special this year.
Beth Winfield's 6-year-old son Kayden had to spend Christmas in the hospital due to RSV complications.
“They took him to see the Christmas tree in the cafeteria and they made him a balloon flower. So they really kind of just made it special for him," says Wingfield, “My son has cystic fibrosis and so he ended up getting pretty sick. And he got RSV."
Pediatric hospitalist Katie D'Ardenne says the hospital staff understands how important it is for children to have a special Christmas, even at the hospital.
“We know that it's hard for children to spend the holidays away from their families and in the hospital. And by you know, bringing Christmas to him, It could be a really special moment for both him and his Family,” said D'Ardenne.
For Kayden, one care team made it a Christmas to remember even with the virus.
“Our pediatric clinic arranged to have gifts delivered and they spoke with another nonprofit agency, Love Inc, to bring Christmas presents to the family at home too,” said D'Ardenne.
D'ardenne says Bozeman Health has been seeing even more cases of RSV in younger children.
“We're seeing a lot of RSV this year which is the respiratory syncytial virus. It is higher numbers and we've definitely seen in past years,” said D'ardenne.
According to Montana DPHHS, 75,000 to 125,000 children under the age of 5 have been hospitalized due to RSV complications.
D'ardenne couldn't be more proud of the Bozeman Health staff for bringing a little magic to a child's Christmas.
“I'm pretty proud of our staff here at Bozeman Health. I feel like they went above and beyond to try to make it as special as possible,” said D'ardenne.
Wingfield couldn't be more thankful for everything the hospital staff did to ensure Kayden had a very merry Christmas.
“I think it's really sweet. It's just—I think is really sweet that they did that,” said Winfield.
