Chisasibi tyke 'Habs' a big day at Montreal Children's Hospital
As luck would have it, Samuel Kanatewat from the James Bay community of Chisasibi had his best Habs shirt with him when several Montreal Canadiens players paid a visit to the Montreal Children's Hospital this week.
The charming nine-month-old even flashed Ales Hemsky, Carey Price and Paul Byron a smile.
"He brings out the happiness in people, I find," said Samuel's mom, Marlene Shecapio, and the players were no exception.
"He's just so cute that he's just unbearable sometimes to look at."
The hockey players were on their annual Christmas visits Tuesday to the Children's Hospital, the Shriners Hospital, and Sainte-Justine Hospital in Montreal. It's an opportunity for them to spend time with the children and bring gifts, chocolate and sign autographs.
"They seemed very nice and very respectful … very genuine," said Shecapio. "I was very happy and surprised. It was very exciting."
Samuel was born with partial Trisomy 18, also known as Edwards syndrome. It is a condition that is caused by an error in cell division and can lead to a series of health challenges, some of them life-threatening. Many with the syndrome die before birth or within their first month, and only five to 10 per cent live beyond their first birthday.
Shecapio says she's heard the statistics from doctors before, but she chooses to focus on the positives.
"The doctors told me a lot of things that he won't be able to do," said Shecapio. "There were a lot of things [they told us] we should be cautious about, that he wouldn't be able to do … like talk."
Samuel was born prematurely, with a club foot, poor hearing and poor muscle tone and needs to be fed through a tube. But he now communicates very well, according to Shecapio, particularly when he's upset.
"We take things day by day," said Shecapio. "We are not disappointed in the things he can't do. We are grateful we have him here."
"At then end of the day, we see him and he makes us happy."
