Former Michigan State University basketball star Branden Dawson, now a member of the NBA’s Los Angeles Clippers, visited Wednesday with a few young patients at Spectrum Health Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital.

Dawson, a personal friend of Roger Jansen, Spectrum Health senior vice president of Human Resources, wanted to stop in to see some hard-working kids.

“Just to see what these kids go through every day, yet they still manage to have a smile on their faces,” Dawson said. “They work hard each and every day and they are the reason why I work hard and why I am the person I am today.”