JACK WHITEHALL

I’d never been to a children’s ward, let alone a children’s cancer ward, so didn’t know what to expect on my first visit to the Oak Centre for Children and Young People at Royal Marsden Hospital.

It was Christmas week 2017 and I was visiting to meet the patients and bring some seasonal cheer. One of them was George, who had just finished 12 months of treatment for a very rare form of cancer called Ewing sarcoma. I was fully prepared to be faced with a child at death’s door, bed-ridden, semiconscious and haunted. So I was shocked to arrive and find an empty bed. “Where’s George?” I asked the nurse, bracing myself.

“He’s playing football in the corridor with his brother,” she replied very casually. “I think they need a goalie.” I went out to find them both charging around the corridor. “You’re late, get in goal please!” yelled George at me. His little bald head, the feeding tube coming out of his nose and his sallow complexion belied the bundle of energy bouncing in front of me. I took my position between the posts – well, the door frame repurposed as their goal. George stood over the ball and sized up his options. I remember thinking whatever you do, DON’T save this penalty. If you don’t let him score, you are going straight to hell.

He’d barely started his run-up when I fully committed to the dive, ushering him to roll the ball into the gaping space I’d left for him. Unfortunately, George shanked his kick directly into one of my flailing legs. An awkward moment ensued. Did he really just save a five-year-old cancer patient’s penalty? “Encroachment!” I announced authoritatively, pointing at a random doctor. “You’ll have to take it again.”

The second time, I stayed rooted to the spot and George creamed it into the top left corner. The crowd erupted into whoops and applause, relief for everyone. Other than the poor sod who’d have to fix the cracked glass in the door.

The experiences I have shared with some of the extraordinary patients on my visits there have helped shape my understanding of The Royal Marsden and probably all NHS children’s cancer wards like it.

Places which, on paper, should be the most depressing to visit on Earth but are actually full of not just bravery, courage and tales of extraordinary resilience in the face of terrifying adversity but also hope, compassion, love, care, positivity and – most unexpectedly – laughter.

That’s down to both the attitude of the patients and the phenomenal and dedicated

NHS staff.

PLAYTIME Jack & George, 5