Musician: Marcus Bonfanti (guitar, vocals)
Marcus was back at Great Ormond Street today after some time away touring with Fisherman’s Friends and Ten Years After.
Before a note was played however, there was other business to attend to. Marcus is in the market for a new piano for his daughter Isabella (a fantastic musician in her own right, who has sung and played sax at Bridgeside Lodge). Isabella had expressed a wish that her old keyboard be donated to Great Ormond Street, and the volunteering team at GOSH were very happy to accept. Here’s play specialist Claire thanking Isabella for her donation.
Instrument exchange complete, we began our session on Safari Ward. We met a young girl who was sculpting her name out of playdough and requested Let It Go from Frozen, this went down very well. When we asked her what other songs she likes, she couldn’t think of anything. We’ve all been there, haven’t we? “What’s your favourite song?” Mind blank. Claire to the rescue once again, asking Marcus if he knew any Ed Sheeran. Ed’s hit Thinking Out Loud was a success (even if Marcus did need to Google the lyrics!)
A little boy then joined us with his mum and dad who informed us that he liked Disney. After The Bear Necessities and King Of The Swingers from The Jungle Book, Marcus finished up with Randy Newman’s You Got A Friend In Me from Toy Story.
Next up was patient D for whom Marcus played Taylor Swift’s Shake It Off, largely because D had a shaker in his cot. It was quite the duet and D is certainly a percussionist in the making. Mum told us that he would often kick in the womb in time with any music that was playing!
On to Koala Ward, which specialises in craniofacial and neurological problems, including epilepsy. Patient R, a young man in his mid-teens requested Bon Jovi’s Living On A Prayer and Robbie Williams’ Angels and Let Me Entertain You.
In the next two rooms we met much younger children, both with epilepsy and who both loved Wheels On The Bus. After going Round & Round, Up and Down, Swish swish swish, Flash flash flash and even a few new verses taught to us by one of the mums who knew the American version (in which the mum’s don’t get quite such a raw deal!) we got ready to leave. At this point various alarms and beeps and buzzes sounded from the room we had just left. Play specialist Izzy explained that the patient we had just visited was having a seizure and that it was probably as a result of the music and the extra stimulation. While Marcus and I both panicked slightly at this, Izzy informed us that this was in fact a good thing. The controlled seizure and the resulting data, gathered electronically via cutting-edge medical technology used at Great Ormond Street enables doctors to monitor the condition and learn more about it.
Our final stop was a young man around 4 years old, whose favourite song is Sophie Ellis-Bextor’s 2001 hit Murder On The Dancefloor, which has enjoyed something of a resurgence this year thanks to the movie Saltburn. We’re not sure if the two are connected but we thought best not to ask.
On Squirrel Ward, our final stop. We met baby Ruby. Her name and the day of the week made the first song choice a no-brainer. Not so much “Goodbye” as “Hello Ruby Tuesday”. It was decided that a concert in the corridor was more appropriate then in the bay itself as Ruby’s next door neighbour was fast asleep and mum was very happy to hold her daughter and Marcus serenaded them both with her Rolling Stones namesake, Madness’ It Must Be Love and the Elvis classic Love Me Tender.
Thom Rowlands
