Pittsburgh Penguins spread holiday cheer, deliver gifts to children at UPMC Children's Hospital
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — A visit from the Pittsburgh Penguins is one of the most beloved holiday traditions at UPMC Children's Hospital.
KDKA-TV was there on Wednesday when the players donned their Santa hats and brought smiles to so many kids.
Children of all ages at UPMC Children's Hospital are counting down the days to Christmas, while their parents are counting other days.
"We're on day No. 25 here," said Dena Lipp, mother of 7-year-old Macy. "Macy came in with RSV, bacterial pneumonia and rhinovirus."
The Penguins turned up on Wednesday to brighten everyone's day, bearing all kinds of gifts, including books, rattles and headphones. And of course, stuffed Penguins.
The players did their best to bring smiles to every kid and family member they met. And there were a lot of smiles.
"The Pens, Santa, everyone's just been wonderful to us," Lipp said.
"It's been fun," Penguins defenseman Kris Letang said. "All the kids are pretty receptive, they're having fun talking about their daily."
Some players, including defenseman Erik Karlsson, were making their first Christmas visit to kids in Pittsburgh. Others like Letang have been here for many Christmas visits and know what it means to spend the holiday at the hospital.
"It's been great," Letang said. "Obviously, it's the approach of Christmas, it's not an ideal situation for some of those kids. We're just trying to come in and bring them smiles and try to brighten their day."
"Celebrating Christmas is hard. You just gotta stay strong. That's really all you can do," Lipp said
Macy got to meet Letang again on Wednesday.
"She met him when she was in the NICU when she was 3 days old," Lipp said. "He came to see her right before her first major heart surgery."
"And he came in today and wished her happy birthday and Merry Christmas," she added.
"Sometimes you have to pinch yourself it's happening in the real world," Letang said. "She has to go through so much and sometimes we have to realize how lucky we are."
And while the kids enjoy their gifts from the Penguins and look forward to Christmas Day, they're all hoping for just one more Christmas gift.
"Macy is very, very happy with everything and the way things are moving," Lipp said. "Hopefully, we're home, fingers crossed, for Christmas."
The annual holiday visit to UPMC Children's Hospital has been a Pittsburgh Penguins tradition since the 1970s.
Contributor: KDKA-TV Producer Tory Wegerski
