Doctors go to magical lengths to ‘save’ distraught little girl’s Elf on the Shelf

Fair play to them.

One mum was shocked after she was woken up to the sound of her daughter's screams after her Elf on the Shelf sustained serious injuries. Jenn Thelen had moved her daughter's treasured Sam the Elf to a new location the night before - but the family dog, Zoey, got a little curious and took a bite out of the Christmas helper. On his injuries, Jenn told Babble:

“His right arm was ripped off, he had a big tear in both his left arm and right leg, and a chunk off his cheek."

Aubrie, 7, was so distraught that Jenn knew she had to act quickly. Since she's a nurse manager for the emergency department at the Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children in Orlando, Florida, she reassured her daughter that Sam would be able to be fixed up. She scooped him up in a blanket and rushed him to the hospital, where a Santa-approved medical team was waiting to treat Sam. He was brought into the ER on a gurney, where they operated on him with (expired) medical products. The surgeon reattached the little elf's arm with a couple of bandages, finishing the procedure off by sprinkling some sparkles over it to bring him back to good health. Aubrie's elf was discharged from the hospital the same day and all was well. Jenn added:

“We always talk about Christmas magic with our kids. “Aubrie is a very analytical kid, so she wants to know details about everything. "So, we explained that Christmas magic is a way that Santa and the elves are able to do things that maybe normally wouldn’t make sense.”