27 December 2023 , 16:47
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While most parents were looking forward to Christmas, mum Rubeka Bowen and her husband Andrew suddenly found themselves in the middle of a terrifying turmoil.
Their daughter Jennah, aged five, had just been diagnosed with a brain tumour and, on her first visit to Great Ormond Street Hospital, they had to watch their scared little girl begin treatment.
That was when Claire Gillman swooped in. She is one of the play specialists who have been making Christmas fun for dozens of sick kids in the world-leading children's hospital over the festive period. To the youngsters they are playmates, just as excited as they are to mess with slime, act out stories with dolls or read books in their special play room. But, in fact, they are doing a vital job by helping young patients understand their illness, prepare for ops, and lose their fears.
Claire has eased Jennah's time in hospital with fun activities to make her feel a lot more comfortable (Adam Gerrard / Daily Mirror)Little Jennah had been so scared she would not let doctors fit the Hickman line – to receive chemotherapy – on her chest, until her first play session with Claire, and another play specialist, Lily. Rubeka says: "She had been really upset, she was sick and didn't know what was going on. But they just took her and played away all the fear.
"After going into the play room with Claire and Lily she came out calm and ready to start her treatment, she knew why she had to have it and what it was for. It was just amazing, mind blowing. They turn everything into play, explaining everything she's going through in a language she understands. She's been able to go through complete surgical procedures without being fazed at all, and all because of them."
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Andrew adds: "When we bring Jennah into hospital now she's not worried at all. It's not the chemo she's thinking about, it's about playing with Claire and Lily, who are her new best friends."
Jennah's parents Rubeka and Andrew found themselves in turmoil when they got the diagnosis (Adam Gerrard / Daily Mirror)The couple, from Dagenham, Essex, who have two other children, Sophia, eight and Zachariah, two, were stunned two months ago when Jennah was diagnosed with a tumour on the back of her brain. She had been vomiting daily for 10 months before opticians spotted pressure on her eyes and sent her to London's Moorfields Eye Hospital, where doctors arranged an MRI scan.
Within days of finding the cancer, GOSH surgeons had removed most of the tumour, but she needed chemo to treat a part they could not remove. Rubeka says: "We were shattered. We hadn't expected to be told she had a brain tumour. She comes in for chemo then goes home to rest, unless she gets an infection and has to stay in hospital. We've been constantly travelling backwards and forwards."
Jennah lost her hair after her first round of chemo but was unfazed. Her mum says: "They prepped her for it with books, dolls and a lot of talking. It's amazing because they pre-empt what is going to happen and how she might feel and explain things to her so that when she's going through it she knows why and isn't scared."
Andrew says when they are on the ward they sometimes see other frightened children arrive for the first time. "We heard the same cry that Jennah had when she didn't know what was happening, and then you’ll see Claire and Lily rush in, they just know, and they'll take that child into the room and calm them down."
Claire has been a part of the hospital's play team for three years (Adam Gerrard / Daily Mirror)
The work the team have done has made Jennah feel at ease while having treatment (Adam Gerrard / Daily Mirror)Claire, 49, who has been part of the hospital's play team – which is fully funded by Great Ormond Street Hospital Children's Charity – for three years, explains how play specialists put frightened children at ease. She says: "Normalising play in hospital is so important, but the role of the play specialist is so much more than that. We try to bring some normality to an abnormal environment. We try to make it fun, even when what we need to talk about is difficult.
"We have teddies and a chemo duck with lines or ports to explain to them what will be happening to them, and books like Harri the Hair Fairy which helps prepare children for losing their hair. It helps normalise what's happening. Sometimes we don't worry about the medical stuff and just make a mess together with painting or stuff, to help them take their mind of things."
Former nanny Claire retrained for the role after her mum died. She wanted to use the money she left her to do something that would be her lasting legacy. She says: "I've definitely found my vocation. It's so rewarding to see children you've worked with week in and week out making progress."
Another child enjoying himself in the play room with Claire is Alexander, aged five, who had intensive chemo for leukaemia until getting the all-clear in August. He will attend GOSH for the next 18 months to keep the cancer from returning.
Five-year-old Alexander was having chemotherapy for leukaemia at Great Ormond Street (Adam Gerrard / Daily Mirror)
Alexander's mum Mum Jessica El Lamaa hailed the team as an 'integral' part of the hospital (Adam Gerrard / Daily Mirror)Mum Jessica El Lamaa, 38, of Hillingdon, West London, says GOSH play specialists make the hospital different to others. "They're an integral part of the hospital. They understand exactly what children go through and they are they with them at every moment. Alexander used to love his long hair and was upset that it might fall out. But after his sessions with Claire he said to me, 'Mum, I'm ready to shave my hair off.'
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"It was the same with his oral medication, they helped him not only take it but enjoy taking it. Just this morning, the doctors had three attempts at putting his port in and he was getting very distressed, until the play worker came in and spoke with him and made him feel comfortable again."
Fresh from his slime making session with Claire, smiling Alexander goes off for chemo and says: "If I'm feeling sad or if I don't want to do something, Claire makes me feel happy again. She's just lots of fun."
- Give to GOSH Charity's Christmas Appeal at gosh.org to ensure the play team can bring some magic to the wards over the festive season