Right Royal treat for epilepsy patient
Natalie Baines, one of our Roald Dahl Children’s Epilepsy Nurse Specialists, and Oscar, a 7-year-old Royal Surrey patient, received a very special party invite this Christmas from Her Royal Highness, The Duchess of Cornwall.
Five children from across the country, who all live with debilitating ongoing health conditions, joined Her Royal Highness at her London residence, Clarence House, to help decorate the Royal Christmas tree and enjoy a lunch of bangers and mash.
Natalie said: “I feel so proud and lucky to have been invited to visit Clarence House. My role is supported by the Roald Dahl’s Marvellous Children’s Charity and The Duchess is their Royal Patron, but there are about 85 of the charity’s nurses around the country, so I was very honoured to be one of just five nurses chosen to attend.
“It was an incredibly difficult choice which patient to take with me, as we have around 200 patients in our care and I could only take one, but I thought Oscar has had a tough time and would get a lot out of the experience.”
Just over three years’ ago, Oscar experienced a massive seizure and was admitted to hospital with viral meningitis. The disease left Oscar with epilepsy and brought him under the care of Natalie and the Trust’s Children and Young Adults’ Epilepsy Team.
Natalie added: “I think Oscar and I were both a bit nervous on the day of our visit to Clarence House but Camilla came round and introduced herself and spoke to all of us individually and the conversation flowed really naturally. She was genuinely interested in Oscar and hearing about his epilepsy. She also invited him to try on one of the bearskin hats worn by the Welsh Guard, which he loved.”
After donning the bearskin hat, Oscar helped decorate the Royal Christmas tree and then enjoyed tucking into sausages and mash, even having second helpings, much to Camilla’s delight.
Natalie said: “I think Oscar really enjoyed the day, you could see from his face that he was a little bit overawed but was busy taking it all in. It was an amazing opportunity, one that I will definitely never forget. And at the end of the day, the children were all given little gifts to take home, which included Christmas tree decorations in the shape of a Welsh Guard and a Corgi with Buckingham Palace written on the back, so they are very special mementos to have.”
Visit the Roald Dahl Marvellous Children’s Charity website to find out more about the work of the charity and its specialist nurses.
Photo credit: Ian Jones Photography Ltd.