To kids at a Fort Worth hospital, this paramedic with a long white beard is Santa
During a recent visit to Texas Health Hospital in Fort Worth, I noticed a paramedic whose facial features caught my attention.
He had a long white beard that stretched way down to his belly button.
The journalist in me couldn’t help but ask a question.
“What’s the story behind your beard?” I asked, to which he cracked a smile.
He told me he started growing it to let sick kids decorate it during his previous job at another hospital.
It was then that I knew I had discovered a gem. This was more than just a man with a long white beard.
Danny Cogdill’s story started five years ago when he worked at Cook Children’s Hospital during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“That first Christmas, none of the Santas would actually be up and close with kids. They would only do it from behind Plexiglas,” Cogdill said.
A few of his nurse colleagues approached him saying they wanted a Santa that their kids could actually hold and take pictures with.
He said they asked him as a joke.
“My beard was always long, so everyone that saw it joked about it saying I look like Santa,” Cogdill said. “I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard that before it even clicked in my head that maybe I should do this. But it was the wrong color. It was red.”
Cogdill still agreed to dress as the jolly character for his colleagues and bought a fake white beard to match a Santa suit that he borrowed.
He found joy in playing the role, and eventually made surprise visits to sick kids throughout the hospital, then locally at schools.
Cogdill’s visits gained so much traction with the youth that, after some time, he got rid of the fake beard and explored temporarily dying it white.
“I had been in class with kindergartners, first-graders and second-graders, and they’d want to see if the beard was real,” Cogdill said. “Kids are smart, so the first thing they did was check.”
His uncovered, natural beard became a canvas for the kids as he allowed those in the hospital to decorate it. Until this year, when he decided to take the fun further with a permanent change.
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Embracing Santa
As Cogdill continued to temporarily dye his beard he noticed that maintenance took up a lot of time and had poor consequences.
“I was dying it five or six times within one week just to keep it that solid color. It was bad for it but I didn’t know what I was doing, so I just had to keep on trying,” he said.
To make matters worse, some of his beard got burnt off this year as he was lighting a fire pit during Halloween.
“It took seven inches off. Before that it was about 15 to 16 inches and reached mid abdomen, right above my belly button. Now it’s just at the bottom of my chest,” he said.
But to keep his impact going, Cogdill decided to permanently bleach his beard this year to give the youth an even more authentic experience with Santa.
He’s made several appearances in the Texas Health emergency department and has extended the surprises to local schools, all while continuing his work as a paramedic.
“We are so proud of Danny and the smiles he brings to patients and employees at Texas Health Fort Worth,” said Shannon Rapert, director of the emergency department at Texas Health Fort Worth. “His Santa Claus visits brighten everyone’s day.”
Cogdill said the best part of appearing as Santa is witnessing the impact that he’s made on local children and adults at their lowest.
“Some of the kids that I see, I’ve been their only Santa, so it’s really special and it’s an honor to have their parents trust me,” Cogdill said.
“And with the adults, even if everything is going as well as possible for them, they’re still in the hospital for the holidays. You don’t expect to see Santa walk into your room while you’re in the emergency department so it really catches them off guard and they have an instant smile.”
The next step for Cogdill is to buy a permanent suit, which he notes can run thousands of dollars, with a sleigh and more so he can become a full blown Santa and offer more appearances locally.
“I don’t ever want to do it for money. I just want to do it for the smiles.”
