Santa and his 'fire elves' rappel down CHEO wall in a special holiday visit

The 'Big Guy' made a special visit to CHEO Wednesday, with a rooftop entrance like no other, aided by firefighter elves, who scaled the down the side of the hospital, window to window, waving and bringing some holiday happiness to kids and their families.

While the reindeer rest up for Christmas Day, Ottawa firefighters brought in their ladder truck to lift Santa up to the hospital's roof, where he was able to supervise Ottawa Fire Service team members, dressed as elves, rappelling down the side of the building.

"Every year I come to CHEO and make sure I see every little boy and girl who may not be home for Christmas," says Santa Claus. "The children always have a smile on their face and that is a very good thing for an old guy like me, ho ho ho!"

It's good for the many young patients here too, like 17-year-old, Danika Casselman, who not only watched the fire elves rappel down the building, but got a picture with them as well.

"It was super fun. It was super cool seeing all of them come down," she said. "It's so fun. If you had to be here, it's the best place to be."

While Danika may be able to get home for Christmas this season, there are many other patients, like five-month-old Dax and his mother Carly Parker, who won't have that chance.

"We watched Santa come up on the fire truck and then the elves came rappelling down. Dax got to see them all and it was very special because it's hard to be here during Christmastime," said Parker. "It's hard because we have the two other kids at home, but seeing this and the staff here, they go above and beyond and they do truly treat us like family."

For Ottawa Fire Services Chief Paul Hutt, the annual event is one way the service can give back to the hospital, which provides so much help in the community.

"For fire service members to come in and have some fun with Santa Claus and some elves, it's truly amazing. It's very magical," said Hutt. "It's really special for us to come here and offer a little smile for all the stuff they do for us day in and day out."

Over at CHEO's school, students also had the opportunity to see a fire truck up close and meet Santa in a fun-filled day that was capped-off with a $10,000 donation to the CHEO Foundation from the Ottawa Professional Firefighters' Association (OPFA).

"We want to fill the gap wherever we can," says Scott William, OPFA charities chair. "We believe that the children's hospital is a very important space and we're just very pleased to help."