Gosh, this is so heartbreaking.
Eric Schmitt-Matzen plays the part of Santa every year with one goal – to bring joy to children.
And with his jolly face, kind eyes and bushy hair, he really looks the part.
Recently however, he realised the heavy responsibility of his role, when he comforted a terminally ill five-year boy at a local hospital. Not long after Eric gave him his gift, the child died in his arms.
“I cried all the way home,” Nashville-based Eric told The Knoxville News Sentinel. “I was crying so hard, I had a tough time seeing good enough to drive.”
Eric had just come home from his day job in an engineering company, when he got a call to go straight to the hospital, reports The Knoxville News Sentinel.
“It was a nurse I know who works at the hospital,” he told the publication. “She said there was a very sick five-year-old boy who wanted to see Santa Claus.”
Eric dashed into hospital where he met the little boy’s mum, who handed him a PAW Patrol toy to give to him.
He entered the boy’s room in the Intensive Care Unit alone and gave him the toy – and the exchange he recounted to The Knoxville News Sentinel has moved us to tears.
The little boy told Eric that he knew he was going to die, but he worried how he could tell when he had ‘arrived’.
Eric instructed that when he does arrive, he was to say that he was Santa’s Number One elf, and they would let him in.
The little boy then sat up and hugged Eric, asking the question, “Santa, can you help me?”
He died moments later in Eric’s arms.
“I let him stay, says Eric. “I just kept hugging and holding on to him.”
This experience upset Eric so much he worried he would no longer be able to play the role of Santa. However, upon realising how important the magic of Santa is to kids, he bolstered himself and decided to continue on as the man in red.
“When I saw all those children laughing, it brought me back into the fold. It made me realise the role I have to play,” he told The Knoxville News Sentinel.
While this story is beyond heartbreaking, we hope this brave little boy’s family drew comfort from his poignant last moments with Santa. Our hearts go out to them at this incredibly sad time.
