Santa Arrives By Helicopter, Visits Children At Loudoun Hospital

LANSDOWNE, VA — While Santa's preferred method of travel to deliver Christmas gifts is by sleigh, he opted to take a helicopter to visit children at Inova Loudoun Hospital on Tuesday.

Children staying in the pediatric units during the holiday season got a bit of cheer when Santa arrived on Tuesday. Santa stopped by the pediatric inpatient unit and the children's emergency room.

This was the second year for this event with Santa arriving by helicopter. Inova Loudoun Hospital partners with PHI Air Medical's AirCare team, which provides the helicopter medevac services to the hospital. Sometimes, Santa will even pilot the helicopter.

At Tuesday's visit, Santa visited patients from babies to young adults, even dressing up in full protective gear for patients needing extra precautions.

Emily Phipps, a child life specialist in the pediatric unit, told Patch how the visits help provide normalcy for the kids.

"They get super excited, both the kids and their parents," said Phipps. "A lot of the times if they weren't here, they would be going to see Santa at the mall or various Christmas activities, so when they're here, they feel like they're kind of missing out."

Knowing that the holiday season is a challenging time for kids to be in the hospital, Phipps says staff will decorate the unit, wraps gifts to open on Christmas morning.

"We try to make it as normal as possible," said Phipps.

Santa will be back at the hospital again on Dec. 17. The Loudoun County Sheriff's Office will escort Santa with his elves on motorcycles and deliver toys to the pediatric patients.