Dance parties at the nursing station kept this hospitalized teen pumped
By Louise Kinross
Je'Niya Hamblett has a unique way of recognizing special occasions. She writes poems. So it's not surprising that after five weeks living at Holland Bloorview, she wrote this poem for staff.
Thank you so much for letting me in this place.
The things, the clubs
I feel amazing.
Yes, in the beginning I felt so alone
But because [of] the help it's like home sweet home.
I'll cut off my wrist band to hang on my wall
In memory of this place, the things that I saw.
Thank you guys for being so kind to me
Last night I cried because leaving this hospital felt bittersweet.
I'm thankful for love and support, my family praying
And in the conclusion all that I'm saying is
Goodbye Bloorview
I'll miss you when I leave
I hope you'll miss me.
Je'Niya came to Holland Bloorview for rehab after a bike accident. At first, she found nights away from her seven siblings tough. “I felt sad because my family wasn't with me because of COVID,” she recalls. “Sometimes my mom or dad slept over, but I'm used to everyone being with me at home. So I would cry.”
To get around the loneliness, she would text and call her family and friends. “At night I would call my siblings and friends and my family has a WhatsApp group that I used. They were all praying for me.”
Watching TV from her hospital bed with a couple of stuffed animals was also a good distraction, Je'Niya says.
During rehab, Je'Niya moved from a wheelchair to a walker to walking on her own. “Physio was really hard for me because at first it hurt kind of a lot when I exercised, and I was limping. Gradually I gained my balance. At first I was always hitting things and wobbling and needed help sometimes. But now I can walk without wobbling.”
Something that motivated Je'Niya was her love of dance—especially hip hop, salsa and African. “My dream is to become a dance teacher. I started with small dances in my room, doing one step at a time until I gained my balance. The staff were very supportive of me. They knew I loved dancing. I'd go to the nursing station and they'd put on music and I'd show them.”
Je'Niya says other highlights of her stay included Friday night karaoke sessions, creating a flag with other youth for Canada Day, and going outside to do physiotherapy.
She's now anxious to get back to school and see her friends.
Je'Niya's mother Nadia Morrison says she felt confident in the care her daughter received. “The nurses really helped her feel comfortable. They were very attentive and always checking in to see if she was okay and to make sure that she ate. When I would leave her there, I didn't have any worries. They also made Je'Niya do the kind of things she would do at home, so she gained some independence.”
Nadia says decorating her daughter's hospital room helped her feel more at home. “The room was bright and spacious and we decorated it to fit her personality. So I brought in lettering and I put her name on the wall, and we put up butterflies and glitter and stuff like that.”
