KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Santa's elves were hard at work at the East Tennessee Children's Hospital on Thursday, taking a break from making gifts to start making tutus and capes.
The tutus and capes will be given to children at the hospital as a way to bring some cheer. The items to make them were donated by a local business, ServPro, which works to repair and clean up damaged homes. The owner's granddaughter was treated at the hospital.
"The experience was pretty wild, being a first-time parent," said Sean Greenway, the parent of the girl. "You're walking in, not really knowing what you're doing. It didn't go exactly as planned, so they rushed her to the hospital. Getting there and having an idea of what was going on, it was pretty scary but we had the hospital and people there to help us through the process."
They said that the girl is thriving now, at almost 16 months old. Originally, doctors said that her prognosis was bad but her parents said that hospital staff helped her recover. And now, they said the tutus and capes were a way of giving back.
"I thought the timing was pretty good to bring in something else for the kids, especially around this time of the year," said Greenway. "It's a positive place, but it can also be pretty depressing in a hospital. So anything you can bring in for them and do for them is a really big deal."