True Northwest: Laughter League

Alright, back in studio now. I told you before the break that we have a special guest, Michael Driver from True Northwest joining us live in studio. I mean, what's it feel like? We're face-to-face for the first time in a while. It's my first time behind this new desk. I mean, this is nice digs. I mean, this is top of the art. I mean, this looks good. We paid somebody off. I mean, well, money well spent. This is, yeah, this is really, really nice. I know you're excited about this, and this is... Yeah, it's we're moving forward and this is what moving forward looks like and it looks good. And and one of the reasons I bring it up and I apologize to the audience because they keep hearing about how we're in a new space, but we can't really ignore it. I'm going to ignore it. You and I will sometimes just have conversations about a story that you've done and I'm enamored by it, but we're so often separated by cameras, locations, et cetera. So, so it's nice to be able to talk to you face to face, think a little bit less about this and just kind of dig into the latest piece that you've been working on. Yeah. Um, so yeah, so the latest piece is, you know, so I'm a, I'm a, I'm a father. I know you're a father as well. And, you know, I think as parents, one of the hardest things for us is to see our kids sick, to see them hurting, right? Oh, yeah. Because when that happens, you're trying your best to really make them feel good and know, hey, everything's going to be OK. But at times it's kind of like it'd be nice to have a little help, like somebody to kind of step in and help you kind of let them know it's going to be OK. So the latest story, I spent some time out at Seattle Children's Hospital where that struggle is a daily. thing for a lot of families, you know, from morning shots and blood draws and treatments all through the morning throughout the night. And, you know, the parents, the families are wondering like, man, it'd be nice just to have a little help every now and then. Well, what I found is there are some special doctors there that their sole purpose is to make sure these kids have a smile on their face and just to make their day a little bit better. Let's take a look. The hospital setting can be really intimidating to anybody, particularly a child. They said I had leukemia, so now I have to come here for treatment every week, so. There are a lot of stresses that patients and families go through being here. Ready. In that environment, we come in and we. Pop that bubble, right? We like to say that we're not trying to change the child, we're trying to change the atmosphere. Where'd that one come from? And bye. Inviting into their world some play. I'm Dr. WhizBang. I'm Dr. So-and-so. She's a real so-and-so. Yeah. We're from Laughter League. I'm starting to speak. I'm starting to speak. A nationwide group of healthcare clowns. Do you think we could make a worm out of some of this Play-Doh? For some of our patients that get stuck here for a long period of time, it can be weeks, it can be months. I'll knock. Yes. Okay. Yeah, that's the noise that it makes. Wow. Having programs like Laughter League. I'm going to read your mind. I'm going to guess your favorite color. Are you ready? Green. You're right. Change that experience for them and kind of reframe what the hospital experience can be like. I'm starting That's exactly what happens when you eat a hat. I also am a cancer survivor myself from adolescent cancer. So when this crossed my path, it felt like this perfect way to pay it forward. to Yeah, that was delicious. Would you like one, Dr. Wiseman? speak Having that firsthand knowledge, I felt like that the job kind of found me in a way. now. Dr. So-and-so, that's me. That's you. I was talking to myself. Really, really happy to come in. Do, do, do, do, do, connect with these kiddos, do, do, do, do, do. They say that laughter is the best medicine for a reason, and there's a physical thing that happens to our bodies when we smile and when we laugh, and especially when we laugh with other people. Oh, yay, oh, here, oh, oh, there. It just makes me forget that pain is a thing, and it just makes me feel better that I'm not alone, and people will help when they see someone. In need of help. Up above the world so high. You know, that idea that I can't fix everything, right? No, I can't make it better, but I can make it funny. I can provide a moment of joy or a moment of connection. And that it's a beautiful reminder that you don't have to do everything. You can just show up and do something. I can give you laughs, but your nose might still be running. No, I can't fix it all, but... Please know I am trying to give you a few more smiles and a little less crying. Boy, it does something in my heart, I feel like. I've been to Seattle Children's. My kid has been there many times. Luckily, we're not talking life or death, but it is always scary. You know, when you're there for a prolonged period of time, I've seen those parents. I've talked with those parents. Little bits of joy like this mean everything. Yeah. Um, you know, and you heard, um, one of them say, you know, laughter is the best medicine, right. And it literally does something to the body, you know, just to, just to laugh, to have a hard laugh and to laugh with other people. And it's, um, yeah, like I think sometimes, um, we kind of take it for granted, uh, those simple things like that. You know, it's like, you know, we go about our days and, uh, you know, we got Thanksgiving coming up, we've got Christmas, we're going to be huddled around the tables. We're going to be having meals with our family, but We forget sometimes that there's families that are going to be celebrating these holidays in a hospital room, you know, with days full of tests and blood draws and all that type of stuff. So something like this just is such a deterrent. It just takes them away from it just for a couple minutes and they forget about later on today, I've got to do this. thing, you know? Um, and it's awesome that this group does it, you know, it's a nonprofit. These are, they, they do get paid a little bit, but a lot of it, you know, just comes from the community trying to help out. Um, and you know, these aren't just people that are dressing up like clowns coming out. These are professionals. They train for this type of stuff. So they've got background in theater, circus, um, improv, things like that. So that was impressive thing too. I saw them kind of warm up. They get prepared. They, they get a dialogue going to when they go into One of these rooms, it's not just, I'm going to act. goofy and try to make you laugh. It's like a well-planned, they're telling a story to these kids that they think is going to, you know, make them smile and make them happy and they can follow along with. So it's just super impressive to see the time and effort they put into it and that they want, that they want to do this, right? When you talk about a craft like that, I mean, you're, you're referring to, it's not just the fun moment that they get to have with that kid. That is hours of preparation, time, energy, like you have to truly want to be that person to put that much time and energy in, which I have to imagine for the parents in that room, that is everything. Oh, it's great. And it's, you know, and like they said, when they go in these rooms, it's kind of, it's an adventure for them because they don't know really what they're walking into. You know, they don't know if the kid's going to be in a good mood that day, if they just got done with having some tests done, they're not feeling well. So they So they got to kind of read the room and determine like, how do I... How do I kind of make this an enjoyable moment for why I'm here? And we actually got a picture. I don't know if we can pull it up. So this is nine year old Asher that you saw on the piece. Currently, he's he's dealing with leukemia right now. But the picture right there is. When I first went out to do the story, I went and shook his hand, fist-pumped him, and said, hey, man, are you okay with being on camera? He's like, yeah, man, you know, I think cameramen are pretty cool. So after it was all said and done, I said, well, how about you come over here and you be one? And it seems like a little thing, but you see the smile on his face, which you can't see his mom right outside there. She's taking pictures of him, him taking pictures of her. They're both smiling. They're having a good time. And they thanked me for just letting them Put my headphones on and look through the camera and like for me that's nothing but for just a few minutes That was some that was a highlight of his day, you know that started at 8 a.m And ended at 9 p.m of all day of nothing but things that aren't fun, especially for a nine-year-old that has to go through so um, it's just you know, it was a mix of emotions and you know on that day of just so happy for what's going on, but just Going in there and seeing um the hardships that families have to deal with on a daily basis and just trying to keep a positive uh you outlook on things. But now they have a little support with this group coming in and doing their thing. Boy, I got to tell you, know it always encourages me and reminds me to kind of do like you a little bit of a life check when you see these kids. I mean, just to go back to the photo of very him. I mean, he looks like he's having the time of his life behind your camera. And by the way, He's got the right stance there. I told him he looked like a natural. much. And the thing is, you can kind of tell on the side of the viewfinder, he even panned over to his mom taking a picture of him. So he's already got it down. But yeah, man, it's just like the little moments like that. I mean, that's just pleasure. And you've got to think, an hour before that, he had needles being poked in his arms, IVs, things that just fatigue him. But he pops up, and just for a minute, he's not thinking about any of that stuff. And, um... Yeah, it's tough because we take things for granted. I mean, I feel so blessed that my son is healthy and all that. But you go in and you look at this, like you said, it kind of showcases, you know, that some people aren't as lucky as we are sometimes, but they're dealing with it. They're doing the best they can do. And, you know, they're just trying to make a situation that's so hard on a young child as good as it can be. And Seattle Children's does a... Fantastic job of doing that. You know, they incorporate play into a lot of stuff they do just to try to knowing that the kids need something to kind of look forward to throughout the day because they can be there for weeks, months, sometimes, you know, years. So it's, you know, it's a lot. We have had some gnarly family visits to Seattle Children's with my child's special needs, not to mention a couple of incidents jumping through glass. So I know full well that they go out of their way to make parents feel better. You go in there crying, and they've got you laughing by the end of the time. And that was without the clowns, so I'm pretty impressed by the work that they're doing there. For the viewers at home, I do want to share with you guys a website. This is from the Laughter League, really easy to find. We can put some details out there a little bit later today with True Northwest, We'll be posting all of... driver's coverage here on our website. But most importantly, I literally just typed in Laughter League Seattle, Googled it, and this came right up because there are ways to get involved with them. So for Driver and myself, I just want to kind of wrap it up. I always kind of do this thing where I say, I'm not there with you. I'm not the expert in the story. I'm just kind of watching to learn right along with the viewer. Anything else that I'm not asking about that you just kind of want to get out there? Oh, man. Oh, man. No, I mean, well, one thing to kind of point out is like, you know, you saw two people that are part of this group here in Seattle based. They're actually five. So there's five committed, you know, professionals that they dress up like clowns and go out and do their thing. This is also a nationwide project. So, you know, Seattle has, you know, has their group. But there's also other ones across the nation that come and do the same type of thing. And, um... No, it's just, you know, it's, like I said, stories like this just kind of bring me back to just why I love doing what I do. And it's just, it's just cool just to see the resilience and appreciation that these families have for all this type of stuff. And yeah, just the hard work that people that don't have to do it, Decide to do it. You know, this is volunteer time, you know, and right now they go once a week to Seattle Children's in October They actually had a fundraiser where they were able to raise half of Amount of the money that they needed so they're able to now go back in the hospitals for two to three days a week now So that extra money is getting them back in the hospitals more days for this kid more smiles more enjoyment And I mean, that's how cool is that? Yeah Fox 13's Michael Driver, if you have a friend that needs to maybe have their day brightened a little bit by what's going on over there at Seattle Children's, you will get a chance to watch this in Seattle News tonight coming up at 4 o'clock. We'll make sure we push it out on Fox13Seattle.com as well. Driver, man, I appreciate it as always. Thanks for coming by. Absolutely. Hey, I'll come here anytime. I love this spot. I love this spot. Let's do it again. Yeah, we will. We will.