HARTFORD, Conn. — The force is strong at Connecticut Children's, where the hospital halls were full of Star Wars characters and every other Halloween costume you can think of.
Every year, the hospital puts on “Reverse Trick-or-Treat,” where the staff brings the Halloween celebration to the kids who are missing out on the holiday.
Christine Tatem, the manager of child life at Connecticut Children’s, said, “Since so many of them are stuck in their rooms and can’t come out – we come to them.”
Family resource center coordinator Evan McOmber added, “It’s really fun to be able to give back to these kids who want to be out, they don’t want to be in the hospital.”
Reverse trick-or-treating at Connecticut Children's Medical Center
It was a special Halloween for 15-year-old Amanda Hallgren, from Windsor, after spending a week at Connecticut Children’s as they treated her symptoms of Crohn’s Disease. She was hours away from being discharged.
After seeing all the costumed staff of mostly Star Wars characters visit her room, she said, “It was really fun, it put a smile on my face and it’s definitely a good way to go home.”
Amanda’s mother, Stacy, added, “It just makes the kids happy and it’s wonderful.”
The Reverse Trick-or-Treat is a tradition at Connecticut Children’s that is celebrating its 12th year, and it’s a day the staff circles on their calendars.
McOmber said, “Every year people look forward to it throughout the hospital.”
Tatem added, “Seeing the kids, seeing how much they enjoy picking out a costume, watching everyone come by and, just for that moment -- being able to be a kid again and not a patient.”
Jimmy Altman is a reporter at FOX61 News. He can be reached at jaltman@fox61.com. Follow him on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
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