Baby Rylie Osborne is the first to receive a gift in honour of the late Sophia Vlasman at Chatham-Kent Health Alliance.
"Everything [Vlasman's mother] had gotten for that gift basket, she said it was something that Sophia would have loved," says Jolene Hathaway, a nurse at the hospital and friend of Vlasman's mother Jodi.
The gift was given to the first baby born on February 17 in honour of Sophia's birthday, who would have turned 17 years old. Vlasman captured the heart of the community before dying of cancer on June 6, 2014.
Hathaway says the gift is expected to be an annual tradition at the hospital and is part of the healing process for Jodi.
"I think to be able to give back and doing so with the memory of your daughter, I think it's a wonderful thing and I think it's definitely going to help with the grieving process," says Hathaway, adding Rylie's parents were delighted in receiving the gift. "Both of the parents were very touched by this."
Baby Rylie Osborne was born 19 minutes after midnight on February 17 to her parents Rachel Rhea and Brad Osborne.
