Shriners of Salt Lake City makes Halloween memorable for kids in wheelchairs

SALT LAKE CITY — Shriners Children's Hospital in Salt Lake City held its annual "wheelchair Halloween costume clinic" on Thursday, offering kids in wheelchairs a chance to enjoy a holiday that can normally seem daunting.

Raegan Holbrook, the hospital's director of marketing and communications, said there were more than 20 costumes created by teams of hospital employees and volunteers.

Holbrook says the idea came about after they heard some spooky feedback from parents of wheelchair users.

"Our parents were telling us that sometimes kids feel left out of trick-or-treating door to door, that sometimes the stairs made it difficult," Holbrook said. "So the goal is to make costumes that include their wheelchair, that are big enough to bring the candy out to them."

This year, he says the costumes were larger than life — including Zeus, a Savannah Bananas Baseball player on a motorcycle, and San Francisco 49ers mascot Sourdough Sam.

Clarisa Johnston, the mom of 9-year-old Jackson, looks forward to this event every year.

"It is such a blast to see all these kids and make their costumes," Johnston said. "What I think is really amazing about this costume clinic is that his own device — his own tool that he rides around in every day also gets to be dressed up, and it actually emphasizes his costume."

She said that when they have attended the clinic in years past, she has always loved the chance to take Jackson to school with the costume for Halloween and seeing all the kids react to his amazing get-up.

For Holbrook and Shriners, this is simply part of the job.

"At Shriners Children's, we provide more than just physical care; we provide for the emotional and social needs of our patients," Holbrook said. "It's so important to our families that we make this a great experience and make it a good time of the year, rather than something that they would shy away from."

And that takes five teams called "pit crews" teaming up with different patients to custom-engineer one-of-a-kind costumes, using power tools, spray paint and all the teamwork you would imagine a pit crew to show.

Johnston said it might seem like that would come with challenges, but the main one they encounter each year actually has nothing to do with the build itself.

"I think the biggest challenge is whether or not it will fit in my car when we leave," she said. "We don't know if it will fit in the door or how to get it home some years."

But she, like Holbrook, says that's a small price to pay.

"When it all comes down to it, it's really no challenge when you put a smile on a kid's face," Johnston said.

And this year, her son rode away from the event as a Savannah Bananas player in a custom-made motorcycle.

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