Remembering CHEO's beloved clown, Mollypenny

Ruth Cull died this week.

Article content

She was a CHEO operating room nurse who discovered she had other gifts for improving the well-being of young patients and their families — with laughter and play. Article content

That led to a new role for Ruth Cull, along with a distinctive new uniform consisting of blue hair, a red nose, brightly striped clothing, floppy shoes and an ever-present smile. Article content Article content

For more than two decades, Cull, also known as Mollypenny, was a colourful fixture in the hallways of CHEO — the pediatric hospital’s first-ever therapeutic clown. When she retired in 2022, there was an outpouring from those she had touched during her decades on the job.

Cull died this week.

“The world has a little less colour this morning,” former CHEO