Minneapolis firefighters deliver gifts to burn patients

Being stuck in the hospital is never easy -- but being there around the holidays is especially tough.

On Thursday, a whole crew of Minneapolis firefighters made a special delivery to Hennepin County Medical Center that brought some holiday cheer to its burn patients.

The cheer helps to break the fatigue -- and a lot of the uncertainty that goes with being burned.

There are a bunch of packages and food for the burn patients and their families-- but more importantly there are hearts full of hope on this fire truck call.

The delivery crew is a group called Firefighters for Healing -- founded by retired firefighter Jake Laferriere.

"We're going to deliver anything we possibly can to help out these families,” Laferriere said.

Laferriere knows the pain. He was burned in house explosion in 2010. Now, fighting the sadness of being burned is his mission.

"It's important for me, I might not be riding a rig anymore, but this is second best to that,” Laferriere said. “I survived for a bigger purpose."

All the patients and their family members were thankful for all the cheer and the support of the staff at HCMC and everyday survivors like Laferriere to get them through their difficult situations.