TORONTO — A tribute by a construction crew to a patient on the Hospital for Sick Children campus in Toronto has gone viral.
On June 10, construction workers constructing a building at SickKids stopped what they were doing to send birthday greetings to a child with brain cancer watching from his hospital bed. The workers held up a sign that said, “Hi Matteo.”
Matteo replied back via social media thanking everyone involved for the kind gesture.
“A BIG thumbs up to @sickkidstoronto, Francis and the PACT (Paediatric Advanced Care Team) team, all my doctors, nurses and caregivers, and @pcl_construction for a very special day. I’ve been watching the construction across from SickKids since it began. On Thursday the workers surprised me as they stopped working to wave at me as I watched them from the 8th floor window. I was blown away by this awesome gesture and so were many of you. The event went viral on Twitter (@anniehuang) and Instagram (@goodnews_movement). Even @vancityreynolds retweeted it!!!”
The crew included workers from PCL Constructors Canada Inc. as well as various other contractors and trades working on the project. The event was initially tweeted by Dr. Annie Huang.
“Thank you gentlemen for your compassion and to our palliative care team for making magic,” she tweeted.
From all of us at SickKids Foundation, a big thanks to our friends at PCL and UA Local 46 who helped bring joy to Matteo on his very special day!