The Shriners Children’s Hospital staff bring Christmas to tiny patients

Salt Lake City, Utah —The Shriners Children’s Hospital staff decided that COVID was not going to cancel their holiday spirit, and so they brought the holiday for babies celebrating their first Christmas to their tiny patients recovering from clubfoot surgery.

“We not only cast clubfeet, but we also cast clubfeet with some flair. Today we are making candy cane casts, or we put hearts on casts. We want the kids to have enjoyable treatment,” said Jaime Estrada, Physician Assistant at Shriners.

Clubfoot most commonly happens when the foot is twisted toward the ankle but is treatable with patients generally regaining the full use of their foot.

Followed by bracing for a short period, babies are cast weekly for about 5 to 7 weeks.

According to Estrada, because her own child is the same age as some of the babies being treated, she feels an important connection to the families, as they are going through a lot of the same things together.

For nearly 100 years Shriners has been treating children in its Salt Lake City hospital, with care provided regardless of ability to pay.