Christopher Pipe, 7, might be spending Christmas in hospital but a surprise from Santa has brought joy.
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The Wodonga youngster was one of 12 children in the Albury Hospital paediatric ward on Christmas Eve, which received gifts donated to Albury police for the second year.
Christopher picked out a Nerf gun from the collection and promised Santa he wouldn't use it on his sisters.
His kinship carer, Pamela Cole, said Christopher had recently had kidney surgery and was admitted to the ward on Monday.
"We live in Wodonga and this is a bit of a second home," she said.
"He's got cerebral palsy on his left side and has had a lot of complications.
"He's so rapt to see Father Christmas - it's such a nice surprise and the staff are really lovely here."
Nurse Megan Forster-Knight thanked the community for their generosity in donating to Albury police's appeal, "especially during this hard year".
"It's greatly appreciated - their time here over Christmas is usually made special, but this has made it even more special," she said.
"Today we have about 12 in, and hopefully most of them will go home tonight, but there will be a few in overnight - so hopefully Santa visits again and they'll get to go home tomorrow."
Albury Sergeant Troy Martin delivered enough gifts to fill a delivery van, checking into the hospital in a COVID-safe way - along with Santa.
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"The community response has been absolutely fantastic," he said.
"People of all ages come into the police station wanting to give a gift.
"We started this last year and presents have tripled - we've had nearly 500 gifts donated.
"There's a lot of people out there to thank.
"It's been a long year with COVID and the community has really given back."
