Remembering young patients

Photo: Roberta Dupuis-Devlin/UIC Photo Services (click on image for larger file size)

Balloons were released into the sky by family, friends and hospital staff at a memorial service June 8 to honor and remember 41 children cared for at the Children’s Hospital University of Illinois.

“Your children have been so amazing and such a part of our UIC family,” said Lindsay Cousins, child life specialist.

The name of each child was read aloud and a Pagoda Dogwood tree was planted across from the hospital to honor the children’s brief lives.

“It’s been a great privilege and honor to care for your children,” said Sara Smith, assistant professor of clinical pediatrics, who read Maya Angelou’s poem “When Great Trees Fall.”

Members of Harmony, Hope & Healing, a Chicago therapeutic music organization, sang as people at the service wrote personal messages to the children. The messages were tied to the balloons before their release.