The Washington Capitals and MedStar Health Spread Holiday Cheer to Pediatric Patients 

Washington, D.C. -- When Clark Durand walked into the Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center outpatient clinic, the five-and-a-half-year-old was excited to see it full of gingerbread houses instead of the typical art supplies offered to kids during their visit. His excitement was elevated when four Washington Capitals players walked through the doors, ready to help Clark and the other outpatients decorate their gingerbread houses with icing and colorful candy.

Clark took a liking to defenseman Martin Fehervary, who spent the entirety of the visit decorating with Clark and chatting with his parents.

“He's been sitting with Martin so long and they've been engineering their first gingerbread house for both of them for this whole time, and he's, I can tell he's engaged, and he's been conversational, and that's a sign that he's like feeling relaxed and enjoying himself, which is just always great to see because that's not always something that he's up for doing, and that comes from a medically challenging life,” Clark’s mother Mary Durand said.

“We are both rookies for decorating gingerbread houses, so we tried our best,” Fehervary added. “We had a lot of fun. It was something I’ve never done it before, but I think we both kind of learned it together, and it was fun. I was trying to convince Clark to eat it after we finished it all, but he wasn't really sure about it.”

Fehervary was joined at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital on Dec. 19 by Capitals’ teammates Dylan McIlrath, Taylor Raddysh and Pierre-Luc Dubois to bring holiday cheer. The players got into the holiday spirit by wearing holiday-themed glasses and Santa or elf hats.

Raddysh and Dubois also spent time with patients who will likely remain in the hospital for the holidays.

“I've never been in that situation, but I can't imagine what they're going through, or their families are going through, so whenever you can try to come here and do things like this around the holiday time, and whatever we can do to help out, to make their day a little better and get some joy in it, try to be there to do that.”

For many patients, the annual holiday collaboration between MedStar Health and the Washington Capitals has been important for them to bring a sense of normalcy to their household. The Durand family learned of the event after Clark’s first transplant at six months old and have made it a priority to attend each year since; they’ve only missed the years affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.

“I think it's really important, because it can be hard to pull yourself out of that day in and day out care that's involved when you have a medically challenged child,” Mary said. “And it brings a level of normalcy to the every day, just doing fun things as a family and things like that, but then also heightens it a little bit because he gets to meet the Capitals and he gets to spend time with the players.”

Aside from building gingerbread houses, patients enjoyed an appearance from the Capitals’ mascot, Slapshot. They also received a Capitals’ backpack filled with fun team swag, including pennants and trading cards.

“It's always an amazing day when we have the Caps here,” said Michael Donnelly, MD, chair of Pediatrics at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital. “We've been doing this for years with the Capitals and Monumental Sports, and it's really a great opportunity. The kids really light up when they see the Caps players. The actual parents love to see them too, and the nursing staff and the entire team loves to be there with them. Every day, there's a lot of joy when the Caps come to visit us.”