Hospital chef teaches 8-year-old girl with heart transplant to make pickles: 'Dill-ightful party'

The healthy yet blatant hospital food often makes patients crave for something that tingles their taste buds. That was the case for an 8-year-old heart transplant candidate from Massachusetts when she was admitted to the Boston Children's Hospital. Until June, Emerson Bayse was preparing for her medical procedure with treatments from her home in Medulin, Massachusetts. However, as the school year ended, she went inpatient and her obsession over pickles began, as reported by Today. Especially, when it came to dill spears, Bayse was all in for it while also fancying pickle chips occasionally. 

Bayse's love for pickles was so evident that a nurse from the Association of Child Life Professionals decorated the child's PICC line (peripherally inserted central catheter) with pickle stickers. Luckily, the hospital's program manager of culinary services and chef, Sarah Bryce, came to know about the 8-year-old's hankering for pickles. Bryce often tries to offer interactive experiences for patients between ages 4 to 16 through cooking. So, after a thorough consultation with Bayse's clinical dietician, the chef decided to engage the kid with pickle-making lessons. 

When little Bayse was told about this, she was on cloud nine because that was the last thing she expected to do during her hospital days. Since cooking equipment like induction stoves cannot be brought into the hospital ward, Bryce devised a recipe that allows Bayse to make pickles whenever she wants by storing the ingredients in the refrigerator. The chef and patient duo made seven kinds of pickles using pre-made brine and cucumber, onions, garlic, olives and even watermelon. "She loves Ken’s Italian Dressing; we made a pickle with those," Bryce told the news channel. In the end, the pair managed to throw a cute little "pickle party" and Bayse pointed out, "My mouth was also watering."

Turns out, the party was a success and guests from various departments savored the pickles that in the end, nothing was left. Bayse was a great party host recommending flavors to the guests and offering everyone pickle juice ice cubes with lemonade. The hospital's Child Life Services shared this wholesome moment on Instagram saying, "Meet Chef Emerson! She worked with Chef Sarah from Food Services to create a dill-ightful pickle party!" Bryce also e expressed her excitement about working with the little chef and wrote on Facebook, "Sharing the love of pickles is probably the biggest perk of the job- made bedside with Chef Emerson - she made about 6 of the pickles for our pickle tasting party!"

This heartwarming initiative by the hospital staff and the chef deeply moved the 8-year-old's mother, Allison Bayse. "The fact that they’re so supportive of just knowing what the kids are interested in and like to do and then just going with that idea, they’ve really normalized the experience for Emerson here at Children’s Hospital," the mom told the media channel. The most wholesome part was how Bryce wanted to bring a smile to Bayse's face whereas Bayse decided to spread that happiness with a pickle party. "She’s modeling from these adults their care and interest in her, and she’s taking that and trying to give it back to the other kids here in the building," the mom added. As for Bayse, she revealed the one thing she would wish to pickle - "Ketchup!"