Starship casts spell on ex-patients

By ANGELA GREGORY

One is a trainee nurse, the other a student doctor, but their time at the Starship was as two young patients.

Demelza Hinton and Allison The, now aged 20, hope one day to work at the Auckland children's hospital after career-inspiring stays in cancer and surgical wards.

Demelza was there in 1998 as a marrow donor for her younger brother, Jordan, who had leukaemia.

She was a perfect match and Jordan has been in remission since the transplant.

Until then Demelza had planned to be a police officer, but now the bachelor of nursing student is just one year off becoming a registered nurse.

"Being a patient has helped me understand the situation patients and especially the families are in."

She plans to specialise and work in the oncology ward, where she found an "atmosphere of hope".

Allison The spent a week in the Starship eight years ago for surgery to remove a cyst from her throat which interfered with her breathing.

She had always been keen on medicine and decided after the experience that she would like to specialise as a paediatrician.

Next year is her third year at Auckland Medical School. It will take her at least nine or 10 years to finish her degree and become a fully fledged specialist in paediatrics.

"I definitely want to work at Starship. There is an atmosphere there that kind of draws you back."

The manager of the hospital's play and recreation department, Jane Blanch, said many young patients expressed an interest in the medical professions after playing doctors and nurses.

She said hospital play specialists used medical play to familiarise the young patients with equipment and treatments.