Clowndoctors Provide Support for Young PatientsInside MagicMagic News Updated Daily for the Professional Magician

Wonderful Help from Wonderful People

The Scotsman has a wonderful feature article today about Edinburgh’s Royal Hospital and its use of the new Clowndoctors program to lift the spirits of their most seriously ill, child patients. The article follows the antics of Dr. Sprightly and Dr. Soundsgood as they visit kids suffering often-fatal illnesses such as viral meningitis or severe, disfiguring burns.

The Clowndoctors don clown-esque medical garb with musical instruments instead of stethoscopes. The program has been in place for about five years and is based upon a successful project in New York. The established nature of the program allows new recruits to study the tried and true methods of clowning, counseling, magic and musical arts.

The program trains the men and women in both the performing arts as well as illnesses they will help their audience confront. Through the generous support of Edinburgh’s charity Hearts & Minds as well as the Scottish Arts Council, the program is succeeding.

The feature describes seven-year-old Celda’s appreciation for the Clowndoctor program. As soon as doctors recognized that her flu-like symptoms indicated the much more serious encephalitis they rushed her to the Royal Hospital to begin the treatment and often tragic vigil. The young girl lost use of a portion of her body and could only move one arm within hours of her arrival. Despite the pain and fear, Celda recognized one of the Clowndoctors visiting another child. She asked if she could see the Clowndoctor at a moment when many encephalitis patients are on the verge of death or an irrecoverable coma.

Celda’s family and the Royal Hospital’s staff credit Celda’s excitement for the Clown Doctors and her involvement in their activities for her progress. She can now run and move freely.

Wonderful Help from Wonderful People

Celda’s family and the Royal Hospital’s staff credit Celda’s excitement for the Clown Doctors and her involvement in their activities for her progress. She can now run and move freely.

The program provides more than mere distraction. The children gain some control over their own environment by interacting with the Clowndoctors. According to Magdalena Schamberger, executive director and artistic director of Hearts & Minds, founding member and former Clowndoctor herself, “It is also about giving them some control over what is happening to them. It can be very frustrating for a child who is bedridden in hospital and cannot do the things they would usually do. It can make a huge difference to a child?s parents too if they see that their child who is very ill is happy and enjoying themselves. We encourage the families to join in too if they want to.”

One of the poignant moments in this wonderful article is Ms. Schamberger’s comment, “I remember when I was a Clowndoctor and I was about to visit a burns unit. The Clowndoctor I was with warned me that some of the children would be very disfigured, and he gave me the best tip I have ever received which was: ?Look into their eyes, the child is always there?.”

We were feeling rather negative and cynical this morning. Reading Ms. Schamberger’s comment and considering the image of a helpless and severely burned child looking towards someone who is there to care for her is enough to make one less negative, less cynical, more hopeful, and certainly more thankful.

Check out the very moving story in The Scotsman by clicking here.

Visit the Wonderful Clowndoctor site by clicking here. You can learn how to contribute to the program as well as their other innovative project focusing on care for elderly people with dementia.