Roy Hodgson was bearing gifts as he paid a festive visit to Great Ormond Street Hospital on Thursday.
The England manager returned to the world-leading children’s hospital in central London, where he last was two years ago, and spread Christmas cheer to the young patients on the Koala and Eagle wards.
Hodgson spent two hours chatting with the children and their families as he brought smiles to their faces by handing out England shirts and goodie bags, signed autographs and posed for pictures.
Roy handed out gifts on Koala and Eagle wards
Great Ormond Street Hospital has over 240,000 patient visits per year and its pioneering research and treatment gives hope to children who are suffering from the rarest, most complex and often life-threatening conditions.
During his walk-around, Hodgson’s first stop was the impressive Koala ward within the Morgan Stanley Clinical Building, which opened its doors just two years ago. The construction of the new building was funded by Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity.
The ward focuses on children with neurological issues, and its en suite rooms allow parents to stay comfortably alongside their children for the duration of their treatment.
Hodgson stopped off at each of the rooms, and the eight-bed high dependency unit, and among those he saw were 14-year-old Connie, a former QPR youth-teamer, and three-year-old Calvin, whose dad is Scottish. "I don't know if he'd like me giving you an England shirt!" smiled Roy.
He also met Cameron, who was delighted to receive a visit from the Three Lions boss and presented him with a homemade St. George’s flag card. “Which football team do you support, Cameron?” he asked.
“England!” came the enthusiastic response. “And Pompey,” added Cameron’s mum.
Koala ward is also home to the telemetry suites, where children’s brain activity is monitored as doctors investigate why the patients demonstrate symptoms associated with epilepsy and other neurological conditions.
Roy signed England shirts for the children
Hodgson’s next stop was upstairs in the Eagle ward, one of the places he visited on his last trip to Great Ormond Street Hospital. The ward cares for children with kidney problems and here he met Barcelona fan Essa and talked about the young boy's favourite player, Lionel Messi.
Hodgson also sat with six-year-old Asad from Slough, as he underwent haemodialysis. He gave Asad a signed shirt and one of the special goody bags - and the smile on the youngster’s face showed how much the meeting meant to him.
“I've seen a lot of children who are interested in football," said Hodgson. "It’s always a chastening experience to come to hospitals, especially at Christmas time and especially children’s hospitals, when you can see that some of the children are seriously ill and their parents are worried about them.
“All you can do is hope the parents and the children feel it’s worthwhile you came to visit.
“I always appreciate these visits when you get the impression people have been pleased to see you and you can make some difference."
He added: "It’s a great feeling knowing that by doing so little sometimes it can bring a ray of sunshine into people’s lives.”
Many of the children were football fans
Before leaving, Hodgson also donated a signed England shirt to Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity, which raises vital funds to help rebuild and refurbish the hospital, provide vital up-to-date equipment and fund research into better treatments for the children.
This year, the charity is running The Great Big Christmas Stocking Appeal and asks supporters to send special season’s greetings on a Christmas stocking to Great Ormond Street Hospital patients.
With every stocking there’s an opportunity to make a donation to help make a difference to the hospital’s young patients.
To show your support, simply go to www.gosh.org/Christmasmessage to pick a stocking design, write your message and donate.
