The Hidden Resource: How Child Life Services Helps Families Cope at Shriners Children's

Because many Shriners Children's patients return for years, specialists often watch a single relationship stretch from a child's first admission into their teens.

Buchanan's tenure has given her a front-row seat to what that looks like over time. In 1996, she accompanied patients to the Paralympic Games in Atlanta, including a teen with a limb deficiency who watched the athletes compete with visible intensity. Eight years later, that same patient was competing for Team USA at the 2004 Paralympic Games in Athens.

At Shriners Children's Northern California, Rogers described a patient who came from another country for a halo placement ahead of spinal fusion surgery.

"You could see him grow in confidence, even with the halo on," Rogers said. "He started coming out of his room more, coming to our events. We called him the mayor because he'd come down but make sure he brought other kids with him, too."

The patient was discharged about a year ago. When he returned for a checkup, he and his family visited a friend he'd made during his stay.

"We're able to create joy and happiness in a space that, especially in the adult world, we don't always think of that way," Rogers said. "It can last with these kids for a very long time."

Buchanan described a similar bond forming among the hospital's international families, some of whom stay in Greenville for months at a time.

"Our international families right now are from five different countries, but you'd never know they just met each other here," she said. "I was playing cards one night, and at the table, we had five languages: Mongolian, Arabic, Dutch, Spanish and English. But you'd never know it, watching us play. Everybody was just having a blast."

For Ashlee, Hazel's years of visits to Shriners Children's have added up to something she still finds hard to put into words.

"I couldn't say this without crying: Thank you," she said to the team. "Every child is different, yet you have an incredible ability to connect with each one and meet them exactly where they are. That takes an incredibly special person."