This Christmas season looks a lot different for 91原创鈥檚 Zak VanderWerf.

Like his friends and siblings, today the happy and healthy seven-year-old is eagerly awaiting the arrival of the holidays. This time last year, of 91原创 Memorial Hospital.

A treatment-resistant infection brought Zak to the hospital last November, and had him in and out of hospital as his care team endeavoured to get him well. The third visit took him over the holidays as the infection spread to his kidney and his fever spiked to 104掳F, recalls mom Lori, who with dad Ben, were at the same time also caring for Zak鈥檚 siblings Kwynn, Grayce and Jakob.

鈥淲hen you have to pass over the care of your child, it鈥檚 so frightening, but everybody at the hospital worked as a team to figure out the best course of treatment: let鈥檚 get Zak well and not stress him out,鈥� Lori says.

鈥淚f we had had to take him to BC Children鈥檚, and not been able to stay at 91原创, we would not have been able to be with him every day.鈥�

Christmas morning magic

鈥淵ou can鈥檛 imagine how tough it is to hear your son ask if Santa will still be able to find him in his hospital bed,鈥� Lori recalls.

But the hospital team understood.

鈥淶ak woke up Christmas morning and they had written a holiday message on the white board in his room and Santa had left a few presents,鈥� Lori says.

His family came next, bringing all their gifts and stockings to open together.

鈥淗e was so happy,鈥� Lori says.

While Zak was just six at the time, the experience has stayed with him, and last week he returned to the hospital with gifts to share with others in the same situation.

鈥淗e remembers his time at the hospital and the people who cared for him, and he wanted to make sure that if there are any other kids who have to be in hospital this Christmas they would have a gift to open,鈥� Lori says.

You can make a difference today

If, like Zak, you鈥檇 like to support patients at 91原创 Memorial Hospital and ensure they have the comforts and equipment they need for a healthy new year, the 91原创 Memorial Hospital Foundation can help.

Desperately needed pieces of equipment include:

• Infant ventilator ($3,300), to help provide breathing support for newborn infants who have a hard time breathing, or cannot breathe on their own.
• Vital signs monitor ($5,100) to provide real-time information on the changes in a patient鈥檚 condition by monitoring vital signs such as pulse rate, blood pressure, and temperature.

鈥淚 would like to encourage other people to donate, because having this hospital here just means so much to our community,鈥� Lori says.

To support your hospital, visit online at , by phone at 604-533-6422 or come by the foundation office, in the hospital lobby.