Pirates Visit Children's Hospital At Vidant Medical Center
December 10, 2014 | Men's Basketball
GREENVILLE, N.C. --- The East Carolina men's basketball team stepped away from the court and the classroom Wednesday morning to spread some holiday cheer at the James and Connie Maynard Children's Hospital at Vidant Medical Center.
Visiting the children's hospital has become an annual event for the team. The Pirates have gone to see pediatric patients prior to Christmas each year since 2010.
"It's hard to see what these kids are going through," junior Terry Whisnant said. "We just want to encourage them and bring a smile to their faces and their families."
The team split up into two groups, visiting the 2 West Pediatrics Unit and Kids Immunosuppressed Specialty Unit (KISU). The players sang Christmas Carols, signed posters and took pictures to help raise the spirits of the young patients.
"We saw a lot of big smiles today," sophomore Caleb White stated. "A lot of them blush and are too shy to say anything, but you can tell that they are excited that we are here. It warms my heart to know that I can have this kind of affect on kids. I hope that's something I can continue to do."
Maynard Children's Hospital is part of Vidant Medical Center, the teaching hospital for Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University. There are 197 beds and bassinets and are equipped and staffed to handle pediatric needs for the tiniest premature infant to the sick or injured high school student. The hospital provides care to 29 counties in eastern North Carolina.
