Is the Santa Claus-dying kid story made-up b.s.?

I don't think you need the child's details if the nurse goes on the record to back the story.

 

You'd be surprised. Depending on the disease and reason they die, there can be some heart-wrenchingly poignant things exchanged.

Like I said, there are things about this story that ring weird to me (most specifically not naming the hospital, which I know is almost never covered by the waivers hospitals have you sign), and given there's no way this dude was recording this conversation, I'm sure he's embellished some of the quotes in his memory.

But as someone who volunteers now and will work in this field eventually, I just wanted to counter the idea that none of it was plausible.

 

Which section of HIPAA prevents Santa from telling the reporter what hospital this was?

Tom Rinaldi does five of these stories a week. Is it that unlikely that the parents would not have spoken in this case? Did he try?

 

In this version, someone frantically called Santa in to fulfill this child's dying wish. Everyone knew his minutes were numbered. Santa rushed to the hospital. This was weeks before Christmas. They clear the room. The kid talks about dying. Santa even opens up the topic by saying, "They tell me you're going to miss Christmas?"

The story is unmitigated bullshit.

 

My thoughts exactly after Smash's post. Also remembering when I was a news desk editor how we got hogtied on some stories because we didn't have permission slips to take photos of some kids.

 

Someone better tell Rinaldi so he can go on the lam.

 

At my kid's hospital, anyone being brought into patient rooms is instructed to release/discuss nothing about the child without a signed parental permission form. They can say they were at the specific hospital visiting children but nothing beyond that. Which is why I agree the hospital name omission raises a red flag more than anything else. I'm not sure if the nurse would be allowed to confirm anything on the record (she's definitely covered by HIPAA), but if I were editing here, I'd have asked for her name to use her as background to confirm the story.

Parents in something like this may or may not be willing to talk depending on how they've accepted the (horrible) situation. I'm biased here because there's a family right now I know of whose child will almost certainly die in a matter of days and they can't accept that. They're talking about all the things he'll do when he gets home, both to him and to the staff, and it's hurting me to watch. When he dies, they're probably going to lash out at everything around them and blame them for the situation when it was something no one could stop. Parents like that would almost certainly not want to talk about their child's death.

 

No idea. I'm basically attempting to play Devil's Advocate here. I also think there is something fishy about this story. But maybe the reporter did follow up and the hospital pushed back with HIPAA. And as someone who doesn't have kids, I can't pretend to know why a parent would or would not to talk about their child who died. So I'm not going to weigh in there.

But I do know, in my experience, hospitals are very careful about releasing any details that could lead to a patient being identified who doesn't want to be identified.

Now obvioiusly Santa is under no HIPAA restraints. Maybe he was coached by the hospital not to say anything? I don't know. Just trying to find a reason to believe in the magic of an old man with a hipster beard.

 

Tom's only going if they bring the sad piano too. And Dantonio to hug afterward.

 

Interesting how facts don't seem to matter matter for this story.

 

Who's saying that?

 

If it is indeed the case that the story is 110 percent true but no one would give the reporter any further information, including Santa who had signed a double secret pledge to reveal every last detail of the tale but not the hospital's name nor the name of anyone who could possibly corroborate portions of the story, even on background, there was a real simple solution for the Knoxville paper: You don't run the column.