AKRON, Ohio — No one wants to spend their holiday in a hospital bed, but when it happens, you adjust.
For some people, that means being with loved ones in the hospital.
Akron Children’s sees hundreds of thousands of patients a year. A small percentage of those patients find themselves spending the holidays in the hospital. For more than 30 years, the hospital has put on a special event to bring joy to those families.
In May, Donald “Dewey” White was admitted to Akron Children’s after an accident on a four-wheeler.
“He came in with a brain injury and had a stroke, and that’s when he had to have brain surgery,” said Sarah Gurbal, a certified child life specialist with Akron Children’s.
Since then, Dewey has had surgeries and gone to rehab to get his left side working better. Gurbal has been working with Dewey.
He is one of nearly 200 patients who will be spending this Thanksgiving holiday in Akron Children’s Hospital. Akron and Mahoning Valley campuses have 323 beds. There are currently 196 inpatients between the two. The Akron campus has 281 beds and currently 175 inpatients.
“Holidays can be really challenging, and I think families do the best they can to provide,” said Gurbal.
Dewey’s family is bringing Thanksgiving to him.
“You have to be here,” said Donald White, Dewey White’s dad. “For what? You can’t, you can’t leave a kid unattended just because it’s a holiday, because you want to have fun. It’s not fair to him. He didn’t ask to be here.”
Donald said his son is very family-oriented, and he loves the holidays
“He’s not really big on just one,” said White. “He loves everything. He’s got a big heart, just caring.”
Families like Dewey’s are a big reason why the hospital gets in the holiday spirit. They host several holiday events, including the tree lighting celebration.
“Families who are here in the hospital and not able to be at home, to celebrate in their own ways during this holiday season, they can see the light from these trees,” said Susan Standberg, the chairman for the 2025 Children’s Tree of Lights. “They can put down their burdens that they have right now and hopefully lift up, enjoy.”
The annual event presented by the Akron Children’s Women’s Board is celebrating 32 years. Nancy Heslop founded the Tree of Lights event in 1993. Nancy and her husband, John Heslop, died in November 2025. They were married for 59 years and died within a few days of each other.
The Bambino on top of the tree represents all the children served by the hospital. A new Bambino was produced in 2023 by Wade Brewer-Engineer and replaced the original one. The 2025 Bambino Sponsor is in honor of Mary Briggs, a former Women’s Board member who died in March 2024.
Strandberg said she’s heard amazing things from families in the past.
“When they have seen the Perkins tree light up in the square that it has, really, when they see it from their room, that it is just really a beacon in a dark time of year, in a dark time in their lives,” said Strandberg.
Hope is what keeps Dewey and his family moving forward. Hope is what Gurbal gives to families when they need it most.
“Just encourage them throughout them being here and just get them back to being who they are,” said Gurbal.
Dewey is expected to have another surgery the first week of December, and hopefully, he will be home before Christmas.
Rose Todd
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