It was a special day for patients of the UConn John Dempsey Hospital Friday. Members of the Hartford Yard Goats baseball team and the former Hartford Whalers hockey team visited patients as part of the Yard Goats celebration of the “Whalers Alumni Weekend.”
Yard Goats pitchers Matt Bierpont and Ryan Castellani and former players of the Hartford Whalers – Norm Barnes, Bob Crawford, Grant Jennings, Mike Rogers – spent Friday morning putting a smile on patients like Thomas Lozada-Trimmier.
He, along with other patients, were given a signed autographed poster. Lozada-Trimmier has been in the hospital for four months with a stomach ailment.
“This is better than the opening game!” he said.
“It makes us feel pretty good to see somebody who was just that excited for us to come and talk to them he didn’t get to come out for opening day but really excited to see us,” said Bierpont.
Errol Misquita’s lung recently collapsed, but he couldn’t help but smile when the players surprised him in his hospital room.
“When they came in I was like whoa, I wasn’t expecting this like I was… I woke up and I feel better,” said Misquita, who lives in Windsor.
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For one patient, the visit was extra special. Ebum Cooper has sickle cell, a very painful red blood cell disease. Her son threw the first pitch game. And this time, it was Cooper they surprised.
“Thank you so much,” she said. “With the Yard Goats and the icing on the cake – the Whalers! I’ve always loved the Whalers.”
“It’s amazing to do something like this and to see the people and just what they’re going through and how excited they are,” Rogers said.
