Four-year-old Jackson has been in hospital 17 times in the last two years, but he's never had a visitor like the one he had on Tuesday.
After yet another stay in Monash Children's Hospital intensive care unit for his chronic asthma, a visit from 12 baby animals from Healesville Sanctuary was just what the doctor ordered.
"The snake's my favourite," Jackson said.
While Jackson was quite taken with the python doing the rounds, there were a few kids happy to settle for his slightly cuddlier counterparts.
Eight-year-old Havva is also no stranger to hospital. A cystic fibrosis sufferer, she underwent surgery for the first time at just three days old.
Mum, Ervan Asik, says they've been in and out of hospital ever since, and that a visit like this is therapeutic.
"It's a nice change. I think it's a form of therapy just to be able to touch the animals, and also to interact with the other kids in here," she said.
The hospital approached the sanctuary with the idea recently, and platypus keeper Jess said she was over the moon about the idea.
"It's really exciting to be able to come down here and give the kids a look at these beautiful little babies," she said.
"It seems like a lot of these kids have never seen any of these little guys before, so they're really excited to see how soft the fur is and have a look at them up close."
Cradling Waffles the six month old wallaby in a blanket, Jess named a few of the unusual visitors.
"We've got a baby wombat called Turtlebell, a baby echidna called Matilda, we've got some baby ringtailed possums, we've got a snake and some other reptiles and even some baby lorikeets, so we've certainly brought down a range of species for the kids to look at, she said.
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