This week we made an extra special visit to Great Ormond Street Hospital with Angelina Ballerina, in memory of a very special young lady, Jaime Rose Whitesman.
A wonderful group of ladies, led by Sharon Jaffe of Cyclub, organised a fundraiser for Spread a Smile earlier this year and some of the funds raised from that event were used to fund the special visit.
Jaime Rose, from South Africa, was diagnosed in May 2014 with a brain tumour. She immediately underwent surgery to remove the tumour and then a few weeks later started chemotherapy and radiation. The family travelled to Austria in March 2016 for Jaime to have further treatment. It was a tough time but as Jaime’s mum, Martine, said, “despite losing her magnificent halo of curls and use of her left side, she continued to fight the fight always with a smile on her face. During our time in Austria, we danced, laughed, played cards and smiled through the challenge.”
The family returned to South Africa but tragically the treatment was not successful and Jaime Rose passed away in January 2018.
Martine said, “We were so blessed to have been chosen as Jaime’s parents and to have had such an incredible journey together learning, teaching and growing over her 12 years. We know Jaime is with us everyday and smiling down with her beautiful smile. We will continue to honour her legacy by spreading the love, which is why we are so glad this visit could be held in her name. Thank you so much to the wonderful Spread a Smile team. Our hope is that this visit will bring joy and laughter.”
Jaime’s favourite card game was Uno, which she played regularly in hospital and we would like to say a huge thank you to Mattel for donating many packs of the game for us to hand out today. Jaime also loved Angelina Ballerina, which is why the dancing mouse joined our visit today and was handing out packs of cards. It’s the first time Angelina has visited with us and the patients were so happy to meet her. Angelina performed some ballet and spread smiles and magic all around GOSH.
We were also delighted to be joined by Abigail Volks at the start of the visit today. Abigail is Jaime’s Aunt and it made it extra special to have her with us today.
We would like to say a huge thank you to Sharon Jaffe from Cyclub and all those involved with the shopping event in aid of Spread a Smile for making this visit possible today. We are honoured to have been chosen as the recipient of these funds and happy we were able to spread smiles and laughter in memory of a very special young lady.
