When Sofia Sheintop’s father, Andrew Sheintop, was admitted to Hartford Hospital with stage 4 non-Hodgkin lymphoma five years ago, she would cheer him up by giving him drawings to post in his room on the cancer inpatient floor.
The drawings were not only a source of comfort for her father, who has since recovered fully, but also for other patients on the floor. So Sofia, who was 7 years old at the time, started created drawings and other crafts to give to other patients.
The joy her gifts gave to patients has inspired Sofia to return to the unit several times a year, handing out dreamcatchers, mobiles and other crafts. Now a 12-year-old seventh-grader at Ethel Walker School in Simsbury, Sofia recently made another visit to the floor with her father as a way to both bring cheer to patients and also say thanks to the nurses and other caregivers who helped her father.