Four members of the Springbok touring squad visited the children’s ward of the Dunedin Hospital on Friday morning and brought smiles to the faces of 14 young ones.
Craig Burden, Jacques Potgieter, Lwazi Mvovo and Frans Malherbe visited the ward, where 14 children are being treated for illnesses from respiratory problems, head injuries and orthopaedic conditions.
The children’s ward is a 16 bed ward and it also has a paediatric assessment unit. The ward, which will be replaced when a new one is built next year, takes children aged from new-born to 15 years old.
The Springboks also visited two children suffering from cancer in the oncology ward.
“Seeing those kids just made us realise again how fortunate we are to be able to play sport and live healthily,” said Potgieter.
“Despite their illnesses they still have smiles on their faces and greeted us warmly. We had a lot of fun visiting the kids and we hope they’re all well on the road to recovery.”
The Boks handed out t-shirts, scarves, flags and other team items to the children. Jacques even shared in the fun by getting his hand painted in the colours of the SA flag.