PATIENTS on the children’s ward received special treatment of a more pleasant, non-medical kind when two Captain Starlights visited them at Tamworth Hospital.
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Fresh off their rocket ship, and with their purple suitcases packed with boredom-busting goodies, the Captains spent time today with Zoe Darlington and Charlotte Heywood, both 11.
The Captains put to good use their 200 years of training at Creative College on Planet Starlight, giving the girls colourful skin art.
The visit was one regular regional pop-in funded through a partnership with the Greater Charitable Foundation.
One Captain Starlight – who at 7378 years old is “an oldie but a goodie” – said they liked “to deliver laughter and smiles to seriously ill children and their families and just kind of find that sense of play to distract them from being in a hospital setting, because that can be quite daunting”.
“Sometimes kids just want to be reminded that they can be kids and not have to think about the medical side of things,” she said.
“We do use improvisation a lot to tailor our engagement to suit that individual’s needs and also to give the child agency over what they’re experiencing.
“A lot of kids don’t feel like they have much control when they’re in a hospital setting, so for them to have control over what they’re doing creatively with Captain Starlight is very beneficial for them during their recovery and very rewarding for us …
“It’s very rewarding to meet so many wonderful families and see the resilience and positivity in humans, and to learn from humans as well and take things back into our world just as much as we try and give to them.”
The other Captain Starlight is just a baby, really, at only 1531 years old.
She agreed that the Captains were always learning things from their human friends.
“We’re always finding new ways to have fun.”
Both Captains said they were also mentored by the oldest person on their planet, Nanna Starlight, who is “a million”.
“She always asks us to bring back some souvenirs from wherever we go – this time, we did learn how to do a new card trick and some new riddles, so we’ll teach Nanna Starlight those.”
Zoe has been in hospital since Monday with a serious ear infection, and Charlotte has been hospitalised for two weeks with a new diagnosis of Type 1 diabetes.
There are more than 130 Captain Starlights across Australia, who have used their skills in art, comedy, magic, acting and music to entertain more than 20,000 children in hospitals in the past five years.