Halloween comes to patients at University of Minnesota Masonic Children's Hospital

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In a place that can be frightening to kids, sometimes it takes a friendly costume to scare away the fear.

Aleesha Star is recovering from heart surgery at University of Minnesota Masonic Children’s Hospital, but thanks to the staff, she’s not missing out on Halloween.

“It’s awesome you know to make them feel like they’re a part of the world and a normal life of a kid,” said Antwan Reynolds, Aleesha’s father. “It’s pretty good man.”

For many of these kids, this simple celebration is the only taste of the Halloween they’ll get to share.

“It’s a very big day,” said Theresa Bunkers of Masonic Children’s Hospital. “It’s very exciting here for all of our patients and families. One of the things that we try to do is make sure they don’t miss out on those milestones and the things they would be doing if they were at home. So, they can’t go home and do Halloween, so we bring Halloween to them in the hospital.”  

Tuesday, Minnesota Vikings tight end Kyle Rudolph held his Halloween Huddle with some of his teammates, helping deliver small gifts of joy in an effort make a sometimes scary place feel a bit more like home.

“At the end of the day like this, we made some differences here at the hospital, we put smiles on people’s faces, and it’s a great day,” said Bunkers.