Santa Zooms into Kentucky Children’s Hospital for Virtual Visits
LEXINGTON, Ky. (Dec. 18, 2020) – Because of restrictions at Kentucky Children’s Hospital (KCH), two-year-old Mac-Mac doesn’t get many visitors. But an extra special visitor stopped by via Zoom to bring him some holiday cheer. It was the big man himself.
Santa Claus, who stops by KCH every year to visit with patients and families, is doing his visits a little differently this year. Even though he is immune to COVID-19, Santa chooses to set an example and do his visits virtually rather than visit in person.
“It’s different because I usually visit the children at their place,” said Santa. “But this year, I’m letting them visit me at the North Pole.”
Santa took Mac-Mac on a virtual tour, showing him a video of Dancer and Prancer playing in snow, a sneak peek of the toys in the workshop and a video that Santa shot last year flying his sleigh. Mrs. Claus stopped by and Zippity the Elf zipped in to report to Santa that Mac-Mac had been extra good this year.
Mac-Mac’s favorite part was a video that showed Rudolph when he first joined Santa’s team. He watched as reindeer played in the snow – one of which was easily identifiable with his telltale red glowing nose.
Before he signed off, Santa wished Mac-Mac and his mom a very merry Christmas. Mac-Mac responded with an excited “ho ho ho”.
When asked what people should do to get on Santa’s nice list, Santa said everyone should maintain a social distance, wash their hands and wear a mask.
Christmas will look different this year, but Santa says this is only temporary and things will be back to normal next year.
“We want to be safe and stay healthy,” said Santa. “We know we’re going to beat this virus, but we have to be careful and do what we need to do. And that will make next Christmas all that more enjoyable.”
As the state’s flagship, land-grant institution, the University of Kentucky exists to advance the Commonwealth. We do that by preparing the next generation of leaders — placing students at the heart of everything we do — and transforming the lives of Kentuckians through education, research and creative work, service and health care. We pride ourselves on being a catalyst for breakthroughs and a force for healing, a place where ingenuity unfolds. It's all made possible by our people — visionaries, disruptors and pioneers — who make up 200 academic programs, a $476.5 million research and development enterprise and a world-class medical center, all on one campus.