Story from the Office Manager of the Smiling Hospital Foundation

Let me tell you my story. Actually, it is my daughter’s and mine. Ours.
It started in April 2013. My daughter was born then. My husband was with me in the delivery room. Sitting there quietly, looking scared. My daughter arrived quietly, looking scared. „Spitting image of her daddy’s.” People still say that.
The nurse took my husband with her to show how our daughter is being washed and dressed. Less than a minute passed and my husband rushed back to me saying there was something wrong with the baby’s foot. She had 6 toes on one of her feet. „Well, it’s always better to have more than less, especially when it comes to toes, the nurse said and we laughed with a relief. She was absolutely right.
Two years later the doctors decided my daughter’s „extra” toe needed to go. It was pressing nerves and causing pain for the little one. There was no doubt, it had to go.
After long discussions, pile of x-rays, check-ups and God knows what else, in November me and my daughter walked into the orthopaedic clinic. All the necessary administration was behind us. Then, we were shown the hospital room we were going to stay for the night. On the corridor leading us to the children’s ward, we saw lovely patterns and colours on the walls and I couldn’t be happier seeing the excitement in my little one’s eyes when Peppa Pig was staring back at us from the wall. „Thank God for Peppa Pig”, I whispered.
By lunchtime my daughter had one toe less. I was watching her sleeping, looking pale and exhausted. Seconds later she sat up in her bed and started screaming of pain. A nurse rushed in and gave some strong medicine to make the terrible pain go away. Once the nurse was gone, a smiling face popped through the door. A young girl smiled at us and without saying a word, she started blowing gigantic bubbles into the room. Carefully, step by step she approached my baby girl. Her never ending smile convinced my daughter and in no time she was sitting at my daughter’s bedside. The two of them were singing nursery rhymes together. My baby – who has always been very shy - was singing and laughing out loud with a stranger lady, what happened? It turned out the „stranger lady” was a volunteer at Smiling Hospital Foundation. She said she would not leave until she had made every little patient smile in the clinic. She succeeded.
My daughter asked me a week after her operation if we could go back to the clinic. „Why?” I asked. „Because I want to play with the nice lady.” That won me over. I decided to leave my HR career and join the Smiling Hospital Foundation’s staff.
Now I am on a daily mission making poorly children smile. I never felt better.