INDIANAPOLIS — Santa Claus made an early stop to visit the tiniest patients at an Indianapolis hospital Monday.
Babies in the NICU at Peyton Manning's Children's Hospital had their picture taken with Santa to celebrate their first Christmas.
Due to COVID-19 restrictions, the hospital said their normal Santa was unable to visit with the children, so Dr. Jonathan Buechler, a neonatologist at the hospital, donned the red suit and filled in.
"It's been a pretty crazy year for everybody and I think the holidays are going to be extra rough for our families here, so just being able to do something so their kids can have a picture with Santa during this tough time will hopefully bring some smiles to the families' faces," Buechler said.
Hayley Tohmason, a nurse in the NICU who enjoys photography away from the hospital, volunteered to take high-quality photos to share with the babies' families.
"They're just not able to have the babies home for the holidays with the rest of the family and during COVID times we're only allowed to have one parent at the bedside, so I think it's very exciting for them to be able to get the pictures with the babies to take home and cherish," she said.
Buechler said he wasn't only doing it for the children in the hospital.
"I really hope, especially for our nursing staff, who has worked so hard this year, that this makes them smile as well," he said.
The hospital also took pictures of the NICU babies at Halloween for families to download and share.