HOLLYWOOD, Fla. (AP) – One morning last summer, Tony Smith slipped a multicolor tutu over his scrubs in the pre-op ward of a South Florida hospital to grant the wish of a young patient heading to surgery.
A photo of the tutu-clad Smith quickly became a hit online and within weeks, Tutu Tuesday was born at Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital.
“That day, it was all about making a patient feel comfortable. Having me put on the tutu made her feel better,” said Smith, an operating room assistant who has worked at the Hollywood, Florida, hospital for almost five years. “I never knew I would have that much impact. I didn’t expect it to go viral.”
But it did. Once employees saw the shot, they started asking Lotsy Dotsy – resident clown and unofficial keeper of the tutu – for their own frilly skirts to wear. Department by department, hospital staff adopted Tutu Tuesday.
It begins outside the hospital named for a baseball legend, where visitors are greeted by a valet whose tutu clashes with his normal uniform – shorts and a baseball jersey.