Just in time for Christmas, the children in a French hospital received an unexpected gift from the local police. A happy coincidence played into the hands of the officers.
Actually, the hospital Centre Hospitalier Sud Francilien de Corbeil-Essonnes was in a predicament. After their partnership with a toy store abruptly ended, the Christmas gifts for the children in the ward looked bleak. Therefore, the hospital launched a fundraising campaign, which by a happy coincidence, the French police could participate in.
What happened? During a search at the home of a suspicious man, the officers of the French police discovered four brand new stolen PS4 consoles. There was, however, no report of theft and the police could not identify the owners of the devices. Accordingly, the responsible prosecutor decided that the devices should actually be destroyed.
But things turned out differently. Instead of destroying the still-packaged devices, the officers decided to donate them to the hospital and bring joy to the kids there. “It’s the first time we redistribute stolen goods,” said one of the police officers.
What does the hospital staff say? Despite the common prejudices against video games, the hospital staff was happy about the donation from the police. The director, Thierry Schmidt, said: “We have children here who would all rather be somewhere else and play with other kids. The topic of toys is therefore very important, but we do not have the budget to buy them.”
Department head Sebastien Rouget also shares this opinion. The video games provide the children with a way to escape the sad everyday life in the hospital. They distract the kids and make the often painful treatments more bearable. It is a recognized analgesic method, Rouget said.
The kids have no objection to this somewhat early Christmas gift, even though for now they can only play free-to-play games from the PSN store.
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