KEY POINTS:
A fashion show starring former patients of Starship hospital and World designer Denise L'Estrange-Corbet yesterday launched a special fundraiser for the hospital's air retrieval service.
Ms L'Estrange-Corbet has designed six new limited edition T-shirts, which go on sale today at The Warehouse.
The funds will go to the national air retrieval service which airlifts 200 critically ill young patients each year.
The T-shirts are available in sizes ranging from infants to 16 years and will cost between $15 and $18, of which $5 will go to the Starship Foundation to help fund more lifesaving medical equipment and specialist staff training.
The last time the World T-shirts went on sale they raised hundreds of thousands of dollars and sold out within days.
Ms L'Estrange-Corbet said the Starship Foundation was her favourite charity.
"With kids wearing these T-shirts they are supporting other kids who may not be as fortunate as themselves ... it's an important cause."
Everyone could relate to children in hospital because everyone knew someone with a child, she said.
Starship Foundation chief executive Andrew Young said children from around the country would benefit.
"Many patients arrive after horrendous car accidents or have been diagnosed with a rapid, life-threatening illness where every minute is vital. We need a national air retrieval service that is highly effective and efficient to keep our precious young patients alive," he said.
Emma Bowden, 7, was one of the children walking the catwalk yesterday to give something back to the hospital that saved her life after a horrific accident last year.
Emma was on a sled on Mt Ruapehu with her father when it hit a rock and she fractured her skull.
Her mother, Denise Bowden, said neurosurgeons at Starship saved her life after she was airlifted from Waikato Hospital.
"It's good to be able to give something back to such an amazing place."
