Little artist bags big honour

Summer, 9, and Elijah, 6, Wynyard-Palmer with the original painting and the finished shopping bag. Photo / Paula Martin

Six-year-old Elijah Wynyard-Palmer was the proudest kid in his local supermarket this week when he walked in to see his signed artwork featuring on new shopping bags.

Elijah, from Tikipunga, was in Whangarei Hospital with viral meningitis in August this year and had an intravenous drip in his arm when he created his artwork, a vibrant representation of himself in a garden.

"He had major antibiotics pumping through him," his mum Katherine recalls.

That picture was chosen to go on Countdown's reusable bags, adding a local dimension to a national campaign which raises funds for dedicated children's hospitals and wards throughout New Zealand.

Elijah and the other children in the children's Ward 2 were invited to draw a picture for Northland District Health Board's initiative to support the Countdown Kids Hospital Appeal. An initial run of 1000 of the new bags has been distributed to Countdown supermarkets around Northland where they are being sold for $5 each, every bag sold adding to the total raised for the benefit of Northland kids.

Elijah made a great recovery from his serious bout of illness - after five days in Ward 2, he was discharged and has gone on to play Rippa Rugby for the first time this year.

However, that didn't end the family's involvement with Whangarei Hospital. On the day Elijah was discharged, big sister Summer (aged 9) was admitted to hospital and has since returned for a series of tests to identify the reasons for recurring headaches.

Katherine has a lasting appreciation for the staff and the playroom in the ward. "The ladies there are just fantastic - you couldn't do hospital without them - and the playroom takes the kids' minds off the reasons why they are there."

Over the past seven years the Countdown Kids appeal has managed to raise almost $500,000 in Northland.