Free link helps sick kids keep in touch

Lisa-Marie Liedeman is able to Skype family and friends in Christchurch. Photo / Sarah Ivey

Starship children's hospital patient Lisa-Marie Liedeman, of Christchurch, fancied a bit of Skyping and a look around on YouTube after a wireless internet service was switched on in three floors of the hospital.

The 11-year-old Christchurch girl gets around in a wheelchair and needs supplemental oxygen constantly.

She has severe heart and lung problems from muscular dystrophy, an inherited, incurable, degenerative disease that causes muscle weakness.

Lisa-Marie's maternal grandparents shifted to Papakura after the February earthquake in Christchurch, and her immediate family are with her in Auckland, too, but she misses extended family and friends.

Now, thanks to Vodafone's becoming one of the top five corporate financial supporters of hospital charity the Starship Foundation, Lisa-Marie's sense of isolation from her home town is diminished.

Vodafone, which is asking its customers to donate to the foundation through their monthly bills, has installed WiFi wireless internet connection, at no charge, on levels four, five and six of the hospital, the areas mainly occupied by teenage patients.

"I want to Skype my friends and family [speak to them over the internet] and to say I've never seen them in a long time," said Lisa-Marie.

"And I like listening to music and singing [on YouTube]."

She was discharged yesterday, but is in and out of hospital and will be back soon.

She was given a computer from the hospital's school to use over the weekend, but her mother, Lizel Jeptha, said that for Lisa-Marie's next stay, she would have a family laptop.

"It's the only thing that keeps her going."

Starship Foundation chief executive Brad Clark said many of the children who would make use of WiFi had chronic conditions and some would be in isolation because of infectious diseases or organ transplantation.

"Access to free WiFi will allow them to keep in touch with their friends and family when they need it most."

Vodafone would also make a "huge contribution" to the running costs of the Starship National Air Ambulance Service which flies medical experts around New Zealand and sometimes to other South Pacific countries.