Special delivery for kids in hospital over holidays

Gifts are arriving early for some of Memorial Hospital’s youngest patients.

Like all nurses and doctors, the ones at Memorial Hospital carry a large burden.

“As a trauma team we have so many patients, very scary and sad stories,” said Elizabeth Spradlin with Memorial Hospital’s trauma team.

But on Tuesday, they were carrying something a little different.

“To be able to do something like this is so empowering for us,” said Spradlin.

Nurses will never forget the moment they hand these bears over to their youngest patients.

“This little girl was getting ready to go to the operation room, she was very scared. We brought it in to her and her whole face lit up and it felt so great,” said Spradlin.

For the third year in a row, Nevada Auto Sales is donating 50 giant teddy bears to the hospital. All of the bears will soon be in the arms of kids who have to spend their holidays in the emergency room.

“We get an immediate response from the, they light up with joy,” said Spradlin.

“It brightens up their day. No doubt the real heroes are nurses and doctors, and they do that on an everyday basis. We hope to contribute to that,” said Mike Tapia, with Tapia Advertising.

“The sight of us carrying these big stuffed bears across the street is so cute,” said Spradlin. “There’s always patients who need a little extra love.”

Every year, Memorial Hospital delivers more than 4,000 babies and sees over 22,000 pediatric patients come through the emergency room.