A Tornado Inside the Hospital…

A new day, a new visit to the  children award in the hospital — we were going to change the whole atmosphere inside, to try and ease their pain, even a little.

I don’t know why, but during every visit, I feel like I’m going to meet a child who will leave a mark on my memory… who will leave a beautiful impression. And that’s exactly what happened. From the moment the visit began, my colleague, Doctor Hadi and I walked into the first room. There was a little girl named Jolan, lying on her bed, holding a phone and watching her favourite videos. She was the first child we saw. When we stood at the door, she lifted her eyes slightly from the screen, but didn’t give us any attention. Calmly, we asked her mother to check if we could come closer.
 Her mother asked, and Jolan’s answer was a clear “no”… accompanied by a small hidden smile underneath. For me, that small smile was an invitation, a message from Jolan saying: “Come play with me… I know what you’re trying to do.”  Because I speak the language of children. So I told her, “As you wish… We’ll leave. But to move, someone has to blow on us.”

 Her mother was surprised. Jolan blew at us , and the game began. Every time she blew, we acted like a tornado had hit us. We’d lose balance, fall, spin, and stumble around the room , and Jolan would burst into laughter. Each time we managed to stand again, she would blow at us one more time… and we’d fall again like a storm sweeping us off our feet. We kept playing until we slowly moved away from Jolan toward the next bed, doing the same playful “tornado dance” with every child in the room. By the time we were heading toward the door to leave, we saw something magical: Jolan had put her phone aside, completely forgotten, and she was sitting at the edge of her bed, watching us with curiosity and excitement, waiting for us to pass by so she could blow at us again. And of course, she did.  And that final blow… was the one that sent us spinning right out of the room , just like a tornado.