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Christmas magic sees Santa speak to young hospital patients from his North Pole ho-ho-home

Image shows people dressed as elves with a young hospital patient.

He may be up to his twinkly eyes getting ready for Christmas, but Santa still found the time to chat to young patients in Morriston Hospital.

A little digital magic meant they could enjoy a virtual meet and greet with the big man from the comfort of his North Pole ho-ho-home.

(Main image above: Ellie Samuel, aged 12, from Bridgend, was among those to enjoy a chat with Santa)

Image shows people dressed as elves with a young hospital patient. This was all thanks to technology giant Cisco, which has brought its Connected Santa programme to Morriston for several years, along with volunteer “elves” from Cisco and Swansea Bay’s IT department.

The elves went around the wards, chatting to the youngsters and finding out more about them to share with Santa before the sessions started.

(Left: 10-year-old Vladyslav Finkelshtein from Swansea enjoyed meeting Santa and his elves)

Lisa Morgan, therapeutic play team manager, said: “It’s lovely to see their faces when they’ve talked to the elves at the bedside.

“The elves give those messages back to Santa and then when they come to see Santa, he knows so much about them!

“As a play team, we love going around and bringing the children in. They get to have a present as well, all donated by Cisco for various ages.

“The elves give them their present in a gift bag once they’ve spoken to Santa and the children all really enjoy it.

“Not all of them come in, so we make sure the elves deliver a present to those who can’t.”

Image shows three people standing by a screen in a hospital room. Cisco has connected dozens of hospitals with Santa using its conferencing systems for many years, bringing a little Christmas magic to countless children staying on wards during the festive season.

(Right: A little Christmas cheer for 16-year-old Lucas James, from Swansea)

Lisa added: “It has become a tradition here. They have come to us many times and they’ve already booked us for next year, which is wonderful.”

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