Natalie's Everyday Heroes: Leslie Scott creates special events for Children's Wisconsin patients

 

WAUWATOSA, Wis. (CBS 58) -- Having a child in the hospital is hard no matter what time of year, but it can be especially difficult during the holidays.

Last month, CBS 58 showed you so many different events coordinated by Children's Wisconsin to help families feel some joy.

We thought it was important to introduce you to the everyday hero who made so much of that happen.

"Tears. A lot of tears. A lot of hugs," that's how Leslie Scott described the reaction to events held at the hospital over the holidays.

Scott's job does involve a lot of emotion.

"As child life specialists, we, we like to say, wear many hats," she said.

And during the holidays, that hat was a Santa hat.

"It brings me such joy and it brings such meaning to what I do every day," she said.

The festivities at Children's Wisconsin kicked off with a Thanksgiving Day parade, styled after the Macy's parade in New York.

"Just because that is like the quintessential time for families to be families, and to be together," she said.

Scott - a certified child life specialist - wanted to beef up celebrations this year.

"The small stuff makes a difference for being able to get through the hard stuff," she explained, talking about the stress of having a child in the hospital.

The parade was just the start.

"You like this one?" a staff member asked a patient.

Later in the month, Scott turned the Child Life Center into a Christmas tree farm.

"And this is something that I've wanted to do since I started in this position," Scott said.

Seventy-five trees decorated with Legos, origami, Buzz Lightyear, art supplies and more for patients to decorate their rooms.

"It's almost like a wish that I wished for, and it came true," said Sharon Jackson.

For Jackson's 5-month-old baby, Messiah, it's his first Christmas, so the small stuff is big.

"God bless they heart, because they don't have to do it. And it's actually mind-blowing with all of the stuff they have to give to the parents," Jackson said.

She picked a tree decorated with frames, so she could hang family photos.

"We're going to roll down this way," a staff member told a child virtually over Zoom.

Patients who can't leave their rooms, used Omni robots to select their tree.

"We have one of our staff members go up to the floor with a tablet, and they can control one of our Omni robots. Their names are Otis and Jellybean," Scott said of the technology used to make sure everyone can participate.

There was a winter carnival and a holiday light parade. And on Christmas Day, a visit from superheroes: Santa and the Milwaukee Fire Department.

For Scott, it's all in a day's work. Spreading joy makes her feel like the lucky one.

"I am very blessed to be able to have a little bit of a positive effect on our patients, and families, and the hard things that they have to go through," she said with tears in her eyes.

This is just a snapshot of all the things Children's Wisconsin does. As the coordinator of programming and special events, Scott has 65 special events planned for 2025. And that's on top of daily programming to make kids' stays a little better.

If you'd like to nominate an Everyday Hero, send Natalie a message at [email protected].