Visit from Santa means much more than presents for children’s hospital patients

Without his reindeer or sleigh in tow, Santa hitched a ride on a fire truck ladder to visit patients at Palmetto Health Children’s Hospital on Christmas Eve.

Six-year-old Cameron Gilliam beamed as he high-fived Santa through the window of his fourth-floor hospital room; firefighter elves peeked in and waved, too.

After five days in the hospital, Cameron and his mother, Christina Rauch, were excited to go home Saturday afternoon. He hoped to wake up Sunday to find that Santa visited again with a Paw Patrol toy set.

Columbia firefighter Chris Branham knows what it’s like to be a worried family with a sick child in the hospital. Seven years ago, it was his own daughter, Rachel, who was being treated at Palmetto Health Children’s Hospital.

“That was the worst time in my life, to see your princess in the hospital. And they tell you to expect the worst ... and a miracle happens,” Branham said. “This staff in this hospital is our miracle, because they took care of our baby, and they saved her life. So whatever we can do to give back to this hospital, I’m going to do it.”

For the six years since then, it has been Branham’s joy to rally his fellow firefighters to give back to the hospital with some Christmas cheer.

“I want to do whatever I can to make the experience of anybody else in this hospital more comfortable,” Branham said. “As firemen, we try to take care of everybody.”

He and Rachel joined Santa, the elves and other firefighters delivering toys to each room Saturday morning.

“He knows it means something special,” Wendy Redding said of her 19-year-old son, Damon, who would be going home Saturday after nine weeks spent in the hospital. “The kids know they get presents at Christmas. But moms and dads know it means more, that they’re trying to cheer them up. ... It means a lot to us because it makes us forget about the sickness.”

With the past two months spent in the hospital and little time to prepare for the holiday, Redding said she was grateful for donated gifts to help give her youngest son a happy Christmas. An orange and purple, Clemson-themed Christmas tree sat beside Damon’s hospital bed, where Santa came to deliver a remote-controlled car.

The real gift, though, Redding said, is getting to be home with their family at last.

This story was originally published December 24, 2016 at 3:01 PM.