GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — The weather Friday evening held out for some Halloween fun. There was no need for tricks to get some treats as Mary Free Bed held its annual Halloween Trunk-or-Treat for patients.
As kids went from car to car, some were fortunate to be in the presence of Princess Daisy or, as some know her, Skylar Wiers.
"I am just so appreciative every day to try to do for the kids to keep the kids off, you know, motivated," Jennifer Baldwin said.
Several dozen kids and families attended the annual Mary Free Bed's Halloween event in Grand Rapids.
"So, Halloween is one of our big times of the year. We started with small little decorations in the garden and then started to add the trunk or treating, which is really a nice thing. It lets all of our pediatric patients participate," Occupational Therapist Penny Adams said.
Skylar's mom, Jennifer Baldwin, helps express the joy this small gesture is for her daughter.
"Just do something that doesn't feel like a hospital and being able to just dress up. That really takes their mind off. You know, being in the hospital, being in recovery, etc," Baldwin added.
She says Skylar had an aneurysm following a procedure a couple of months ago. Baldwin adds she's nonverbal and receives speech therapy at Mary Free Bed.
"They do three hours of therapy a day here. It's like, school almost. And they go in and out and different therapies. And they do a lot of other fun stuff here, too. They have rec therapy scheduled recreation for the kids. And that's awesome," Baldwin added.
She says Skylar is already making improvements.
"Her sense of humor is what gets me through. You can see all of her expressiveness through her eyebrows," Baldwin said. "The non-participation thing— that's when, you know, that she's, she's still got that tween attitude in there. But she's she's behaving a little bit better."
The hospital is looking to make her and other kids feel like kids again.
"It makes it all worthwhile to see people are happy and see people engaged to see people interacting out of their room, you know, smiling and just, you know, playing games," Adams said.
