Star’s kindly visit
When sports stars interrupt their big game preparations with a visit to Auckland’s Starship children’s hospital it can seem a scripted trip in the company of a team photographer who captures the moment. The players gather round the bed of a young patient, whose delight is usually plain to see.
The ill youngster, their childhood years robbed by cruel disease or sad circumstances, gets a moment to treasure and perhaps a lift in their spirits as the players discharge their duty. The formula is familiar, but the sentiments sincere.
It was a delight then to see a bona fide superstar play it a little differently this week, and keep it under the radar. The visit of Lorde to the hospital took place without fanfare.
She happened to be in town for a fortnight, and made the effort to bring a little joy into the lives of boys and girls burdened with poor health and sometimes a bleak outlook. Staff were thrilled the pop star spent more than two hours at Starship, and talked to children and nurses.
In what must have been a special moment, Lorde got alongside Elle Kronfeld-Tobin, the sole survivor of a crash which claimed the lives of her father and 1-year-old brother. Elle’s aunt said that Lorde sang with the injured 2-year-old, including songs from Frozen, the little girl’s favourite movie.
What a thrill it must have been for Elle. Even if she did not know the identity of her special visitor, she would have had a lovely time.
Lorde’s management did not publicise the visit, which meant she could give the Starship children her undivided attention without the occasion becoming a circus.
Lorde has supported charities in the past. Last year a $20,000 donation to the Givealittle page of an Upper Hutt children’s charity called Fuel the Need was signed by Ella Yelich-O’Connor — Lorde’s real name.
In 2015, she had a song on an album called Songs for Tibet II issued to celebrate the Dalai Lama’s 80th birthday. And before the Rugby World Cup that year, she was one of the stars on a single called Team Ball Player Thing, a fundraising effort for the New Zealand children’s health research charity, Cure Kids. It is clear Lorde has a social conscience. It is a mark of her character that she uses it with grace and sincerity.