Children in AdventHealth Tampa’s pediatric intensive care unit given gift to aid in their recovery

TAMPA, Fla. - Children in AdventHealth Tampa's pediatric intensive care unit were surprised with a unique gift Wednesday: virtual reality headsets.

The non-profit Starlight Children's Foundation delivers these cool gadgets to hospitalized children to provide a positive distraction from stress and anxiety as they recover.

"There’s a lot of immersive games they can play, but also just the relaxation of [watching] a waterfall or being underwater. It’s a serenity type of thing. They’re in a stressful room with beeping noises and it takes them away from all of that," said Viktoria De Jong of Starlight Children’s Foundation.

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Many of the children given the VR goggles have spent days to weeks in the hospital.

Parents said they were just as thankful to see smiles on their children’s faces after rough days in the hospital.

"His emotional health is just as important as his physical health," Jaime Hernandez said, whose son Sebastian was in the pediatric ICU. "It means a lot to me that this program can bring light and life to him in a difficult time."

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Suria Yennes, a 7-year-old girl who had just moved out of the ICU Tuesday, was watching TV in the pediatric unit’s playroom when Michele Axford, the child life specialist at AdventHealth, brought her the Oculus VR set.

Suria gasped and hugged ‘Ms. Michele’, with a big smile. "That is cool!"

"A lot of things she went through most kids don’t really have to go through, so she was brave," Suria’s mom, Bagdad Muslet, said. "Kids aren’t meant to be here and it brightens her day. To see her smile, it really makes us all feel better."