Calli brings Christmas to children in hospital

SICK children who wake up in hospital on Christmas Day will still receive a visit from Santa thanks to a dedicated NHS worker.

- By NICOLE GOODWIN

Calli Tully has devoted years to making “magical memories” for the children on Ward 23 at the Freeman Hospital, in Heaton.

It's the Children’s Heart Unit where she also spent a small part of her youth, having been born with a hole in her heart.

In December 2014, aged 17, Calli had to undergo emergency surgery to remove a muscle mass that had developed.

And although she was lucky enough to come home in time for Christmas, she was moved by the number of children who wouldn't get to wake up in their own bed on Christmas morning.