Sophia Boxall-Reimer, the first baby born this year at Sechelt Hospital, won over viewers’ hearts as her mom Katrina Reimer helped her flip the switch and turn on the lights for the giant Holiday Hearts display during an online ceremony on Dec. 1.
“We had a great experience at Sechelt Hospital’s maternity department and we’re so grateful to the nurses and doctors who helped deliver Sophia safely into this world,” said Ms. Reimer. Over 151 babies have been born this year so far at the hospital.
“It’s an honour to help light up the sky and the hearts at Sechelt Hospital,” she added. “From our family to yours, and to all the health-care members of the Sunshine Coast and Sechelt Hospital, we wish everyone healthy and safe holidays this year.”
Holiday lights lit up the hearts hung on the side and perched on the roof of the hospital while a talented Coast String Fiddler – Cassidy Wieler– played Christmas songs during the 15-minute online celebration.
Designing the eight-foot wooden heart was a new undertaking for volunteer art director Lissa Nunweiler, which was then built by Cory Kitigawa and decorated with help from Cory’s fiancée, Emily Kammerle, and her Sechelt Hospital Foundation colleagues, Jane Macdonald and Tracey Beyrouty. The other heart, a nine-foot one made of rebar, was welded together by the hospital’s facilities team member Bryce Rudland, and installed with the help of Chris McGregor.
The Holiday Hearts event is a first for the hospital, celebrated by Gerry Latham, Vancouver Coastal Health’s director for the Sunshine Coast, as an ideal way for the hospital to say thank you to the community while taking all the necessary steps to be safe during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Hospital Foundation chair Bob Gray thanked the many donors and volunteers who help the hospital staff to ensure the best medicine is local.
– Submitted
