There’s an unmistakable sound a bowling ball makes as it barrels down a lane toward a set of pins. But before you can even focus on the crash, it’s drowned out by a joyful shout: “Mom! I got a strike!”

Those sounds echo in an unexpected place, the playroom at HSC Winnipeg Children’s Hospital, where three kids sit shoulder to shoulder, passing a Wii remote back and forth. They giggle, trade tips, and celebrate each other’s wins as if they’ve known one another for years.

It’s the very first Game Night, though you wouldn’t know it. What began as a quiet procession of children being wheeled into the room quickly turns into a lively scene of newfound friends who are now pin-popping pros, cheering and sending virtual bowling balls flying across a projector screen. Moments like these represent the foundation of the HSC Child Life Department. By incorporating coping strategies and play to medical experiences, kids are given the chance to simply be kids, even within the hospital walls.

Jimmy Liu, Therapeutic Gaming and Technology Support Specialist with Child Life, can hardly contain his smile as he takes it all in. He joined as player four, ready to guide the kids, but quickly realized they didn’t need much help.

“Even the simplest things can feel very difficult when you’re hospitalized,” Liu says. “Being able to do those things, even in a game, means a lot. The fact that they’re able to come out of their rooms and join us here shows me just how important the work I get to do is.”

He says those moments of play are more than just fun; they’re a critical part of a child’s care, supporting emotional well-being, confidence, and connection during an otherwise overwhelming time.

Across the room, 10-year-old Georgia Sewell is still riding the high of a standout performance.

“I got like… nine, no, twelve strikes!” she laughs. “I’m better at video games than real life, honestly!”

It might seem like a small moment, but there’s more to it. For the first time in weeks, Georgia walks across the playroom to sit down for an interview, no wheelchair needed.

“I can walk, I can jump… I can’t run yet,” she says. “But I’m practicing on the treadmill and stuff.”

Her mother, Tracy Sewell, watches proudly.

“She’s had to relearn how to walk at 10 years old,” Tracy says. “She was dancing three days before she got sick.”

Nearly two months ago, Tracy brought Georgia to HSC Winnipeg Children’s Emergency and received devastating news: her daughter was septic. Since then, Georgia has undergone open-heart surgery, drainage surgery, MRIs, and even a transfer to the Stollery Children’s Hospital in Edmonton.

It’s a heavy journey, but you wouldn’t know it watching Georgia now. Just a few feet away, she slips back in beside her new friends, controller in hand, ready to pick her character in Mario Kart.

“We wouldn’t have my daughter, we wouldn’t be here, if it weren’t for the teams at these two hospitals,” Tracy says. “They didn’t stop until they figured out every piece of the puzzle and did everything they could to make her well.”

Tracy says people often call them the “luckiest unlucky” family they know, finding compassion and care in the hardest chapter of Georgia’s young life.

But today, Georgia is focused on the race ahead. Controller raised, brows furrowed in concentration, the only thing she needs now is a little luck on the track.

“It was a really good idea,” she says of Game Night. “I really like it. I hope they keep doing this.”

To learn more about our Child Life Department and how care providers like Jimmy are making a difference for children and families at HSC, visit Child Life – Health Sciences Centre.

– Written by Michael Albanese

Project SEARCH Celebrates Graduates and 10th Anniversary

There were plenty of smiles at the HSC campus on June 23, 2026, as 11 students celebrated their graduation from Project SEARCH, a one-year transition-to-work program for young adults with disabilities.

This year, the ceremony was extra special because it also marked a major milestone for our hospital. It was the 10th anniversary of Project SEARCH at HSC, a partnership that has helped many young adults with disabilities gain the skills, confidence, and experience they need to gain independence and build meaningful careers.

The celebration brought together graduates, families, HSC leaders, supporters, and Project SEARCH alumni who now work at HSC. For Meaghan Jones, a Project SEARCH instructor, seeing so many familiar faces was a reminder of the impact the program has had over the years.

“Historically, people with disabilities were confined to particular spaces. I think Project SEARCH is so important [because] it really offers a sense of belonging with your team, your colleagues. It allows you to get out into the environment and be seen, to just be in normal spaces where the larger public is.”

According to Jones, the years between leaving high school and accessing supports can be challenging for many young adults with intellectual and physical disabilities, especially when they are ready to work but could still benefit from structure, coaching, and support.

“They cannot receive their adult funding to provide supports in the community until they’re 21. If an 18-year-old with an intellectual disability decides to graduate at 18, they may have really great skills but still require some structure and support. Oftentimes what happens is they kind of jump off a cliff of support and then flounder as a result,” she said.

HSC became the first hospital-based Project SEARCH program in Canada, providing on-site training and work experience since 2016. The program at HSC is unique because it welcomes students up to 25 years old who have left school and are unemployed or underemployed.

“Project SEARCH is so important [because] it really offers a sense of belonging with your team, your colleagues. It allows you to get out into the environment and be seen, to just be in normal spaces where the larger public is.”

Meaghan Jones, Project SEARCH

Unlike traditional school-based work experience programs, students are immersed in real workplaces, learning practical employment and independent living skills while completing internships throughout the hospital.

Students complete three internships over the course of the year while receiving individualized coaching and support, Along the way, they develop skills such as communication, teamwork, professionalism, financial literacy, self-advocacy, and strategies for maintaining employment.

The program also focuses on each student’s strengths while helping them build new skills.

“Some of our students have intellectual disabilities but are fantastic at mental math and working very quickly with that. They might struggle with reading, but because they’ve struggled with reading their whole life, they’ve had to develop all these other strategies to navigate a complex world that’s often represented linguistically,” Jones said.

“They may struggle with social communication so we might develop internships that target customer service opportunities so they can be working with their strengths while they’re developing the skills that will help them to be better within those roles.”

For HSC departments, Project SEARCH is an opportunity to create more inclusive workplaces and recognize the diverse skills people with disabilities bring to their team.

“We want to be really open about inclusion. We want to be open about how to make a workplace accessible,” Jones said.

This year, eight of the 11 graduates finished the program with a job offer, with the remaining three continuing their journey toward employment. Some graduates are now working as Medical Device Reprocessing aides, patient transporters, and laundry aides at HSC. Others have found opportunities in the community as cooks, housekeepers, and seasonal sales associates.

Jones says becoming employed can have life-changing impacts for graduates.

“To have a job, it changes you in many ways. You have your own income. You have a budget that you get to manage. You become a taxpayer. I mean, you actually develop some citizenry that you maybe didn’t have prior to employment.”

Beyond building careers, Project SEARCH is helping change the way people understand disability.

“When we think about a person with a disability, oftentimes we go to what we know from popular culture, media, or a person within our own lives, someone who we have personally interacted with who had a disability,” Jones said.

But disability is complex and nuanced. Through Project SEARCH, students, mentors, and employers work together to find the right fit by understanding each person’s strengths, skills, and the supports they may need to succeed.

“What we see at Project SEARCH through work is opportunities for areas who’ve come back to us over 10 years – they understand now that disability is a gigantic spectrum,” Jones said.

After 10 years at HSC, Project SEARCH continues to show what is possible when people are given opportunities to learn, contribute, and be seen for what they can do.

– Written by Ligia Braidotti