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Matt Talhelm

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Before taking off on their flight around the world tonight, one of Santa’s reindeer made an early stop to make a Christmas wish come true at Duke Children’s Hospital.

A real-life reindeer arrived to meet the kids!

This special visit came about after a 10-year-old patient who’s been in the hospital for more than three months wrote a letter to Santa.

In that letter, he asked Santa if he could meet a real reindeer.

The Duke Child Life team sprang into action and found a sheriff in Western North Carolina (Graham County) who takes his reindeer to events.

The reindeer arrived at the hospital just in time – before its busy night with Santa, of course - bringing wide eyes, big smiles, and a little Christmas magic to patients and families.