23 December 2009
Sick children staying in Queen Mary's Hospital for Children in Carshalton were given a boost last week, when players from premiership football team Fulham FC visited the hospital to donate Christmas presents.
Players Brede Hangeland, Bjorn Riise, Andranik, Stephen Kelly and David Elm all arrived with handfuls of presents for the children, which they had paid for out of their own wages.
Nurse Sam Robinson said: "The children were so excited about meeting the players; it's a real treat for all of them. And it gives them something positive to focus on and to look forward to.
"We owe the players a huge thank you - not only for coming in to visit the children, but for also generously donating their own money to buy the presents. We really weren't expecting so many great gifts!"
Defender Brede Hangeland said: "Visiting the children's hospital is a highlight for us, and we feel very privileged to be here.
"It's great to be able to give the children some nice gifts and cheer them up a bit while they're in hospital. It's not hard work for us to pop in and drop off presents, but we can see that they really appreciate it."
The presents, worth £2,000, included a keyboard, CDs and lots of games. The players walked around the ward, hand delivering the gifts and signing posters. And even once they had visited all of the children on the ward, there were still some gifts left over for children who will visit the ward in the near future.
One of the patients who received a present was football fan, William Sturgeon, who's seven years old. His mum, Jeanette said: "William's a huge football fanatic and although he's a Chelsea fan at heart, he was really pleased to meet the Fulham players.
"William contracted meningitis when he was younger and that affected the way his bones have grown. He's had to come into hospital to have an operation to break some bones in his leg and reset them with the help of two metal pins. It's obviously a hard time for him, but he's being very brave and I think this visit really did cheer him up a bit."
