Hospitals are a place of births and deaths. That fact, in itself, tells us that the spirits of those who crossed over might occasionally visit the last place that they drew their very last breath. Nursing Homes are usually a place for those who are either too weak to care for themselves, or they are on palliative care. When nurses and healthcare personnel report seeing spirits, what are they really dealing with? Is it the soul of someone who recently died, or is it something more sinister?
Child Ghosts
On the fifth season of Haunted Hospitals, we are introduced to three different women who tell us about their encounters with the other side. In S05 E02, we first hear Sharina Sullivan’s experience at a long-term care facility. Sharina, a new mother, was working in the housekeeping department. One night, while cleaning up a patient’s room, the patient yelled out to Sharina. “Watch out for the little girl.” The patient was afraid that Sharina would knock the child over with her mop. But Sharina saw no one else in the room.
Other patients had also reported seeing the child. The child spirit had even followed Sharina into the staff elevator. Sharina was afraid that the child would follow her home, and possibly harm her newborn. After Sharina had left that job, she learned from a fellow co-worker that the nursing home was built on the grounds where an orphanage once stood.
The second story is told by Kim Kidson, who was a travel nurse who had been called into a hospital on the Pacific Northwest Coast. There was a cultural event taking place on the island and the hospital needed extra help. Kim began to hear running footsteps and childlike laughter. The other nurses heard it too. Sometimes the child spirit would be crying or screaming. One night, while taking a nap in the nurses’ lounge, Kim felt a negative presence. It was not the child spirit. What frightened Kim the most was the incident with a balloon…a balloon with a mind of its own.
One of the patients had a birthday and her family brought in balloons, but that night, one of the balloons kept following Kim around…even after she locked the balloon into the patient’s room. Paranormal investigator/author talks about the custom of that island. When people die on the island, they are buried elsewhere…but there are three bodies buried on that island… right next to the hospital…a doctor, his wife, and his daughter.
The last story takes place in Ohio in 1980. Nurse Kelly Emmons is working in a nursing home that was once a hospital. She had become fond of an elderly patient, named George. George told Kelly that the boy wanted George to go with him. One night the alarms went off. George was missing. They found him in the stairwell. George was trying to go with the boy spirit. Was this spirit trying to harm George?
I had the chance to interview Kim Kidson about her experience and how she feels about spirits, now
Gilbert: Kim, did you believe in ghosts before this experience?
Kim Kidson: Yes! I have had interactions for years with memories as young as 8 years old. My first memory of a spirit was also a child spirit who at the time I thought was real. My mother assured me there would not be children in the local government office building we were visiting. As I learned about indigenous reconciliation, I found out that this building was previously a residential school and the child I was playing with was indigenous with a very cute pleated skirt which I admired as she twirled to show me.
Gilbert: Now that you know that ghosts are real, have you tried to interact more with them to learn the reason they are there?
Kim Kidson: I am always open to interactions but in the past, I have not actively sought them out. I will however choose hotels that have reports of being haunted over those that are not haunted just to “see what happens”. This past summer I stayed in the Queen Mary, the only thing of note was the pungent odor of roses amidst an empty hallway that was smelling of old wood. I travel alot and have seen two small wet looking girls looking at me sleeping in Koh Phi Phi Thailand (after the Tsunami), taps and water trails from the shower to my bedside in a hotel in Venice Italy, Phantom smells in the Queen Mary at Long Beach Ca. My experiences are not limited to hospitals and work but those were the few stories I chose to share for Haunted Hospitals.
Gilbert: I think the ghosts sensed your sensitive ability, and that is why they tried to interact with you. Have you considered using your gift to help those who are near death to cross over? If so, what were those experiences like for you?
Kim Kidson: My Nana always knew more than she was told and always gifted my stones for birthdays and holiday’s. As a child, I thought the stones were “pretty”, but since having interactions, and done some research, I found that these were protection stones which my Nana gifted to me as a child – I believe my Nana knew about this sensitivity in me. There are times that a patient will die in my presence and I can feel when they are no longer around. The strongest interactions are with spirits that I believe died in the past who I did not know during life.
Side note: I have recently had my tea leaves read and palm read and with this information I have changed my perspective to “what is my role in this situation?” and “how can I help?” With this information and perspective, I hope to provide more guidance to those who are lost after death.
Thank you, Kim for sharing your story with us. Now I would like to give my input on T & E’s Haunted Hospitals. I enjoy watching the Haunted Hospital series. Ghosts are real. I know this for a fact. I have been seeing the dead since I was a toddler. Luckily, for me, my parents also had the gift, and they did not try to silence me.
I also worked in a hospital. I was the Intensive Care Unit Clerk of a small neighborhood hospital. My desk was surrounded by nine beds. I always knew when someone was ready to code. They would begin talking to their loved ones…The staff could not see the dead, but I did. They were there to lead their loved one home.
Also, when a place is haunted, that spirit is there for a reason. It could be residual situation where the building itself remembers an event and plays it back over and over…or that spirit is there for unfinished business.
