A FITNESS instructor made a magical visit to children in hospital dressed as a Disney character.
Laura Anne Smith, who works at Benton Hall Golf and Country Club in Witham, visited Broomfield Hospital on Tuesday (December 16) dressed as the character Elsa from Disney's popular blockbuster, Frozen.
"It was a real joy and to see their faces light up was amazing. It was a really emotional, lovely day," said Laura Anne.
"I will never forget the children's reactions and I would do it again in a heartbeat."
The 30-year-old greeted and talked to the children in outpatients, the burns unit and intensive care during the day and she also sang and danced on the roundabout outside of the hospital.
She said: "I visited one little girl in intensive care and we had a chat about Frozen and Christmas.
"As I left, the nurse who showed me round the ward started crying because she hadn't seen that little girl smile for three days and she had hardly looked up at all in that time.
"It meant the world to me that I could do something like that and I am sure anyone would want to do the same."
Many of the young patients at the hospital thought they were meeting the real snow queen and two-year-old Kiki Phillips, could not believe her eyes.
Her mother, Stephanie Phillips, from Chelmsford, said: "Kiki is fairly shy, but when she spotted Elsa walking along the atrium she threw caution to the wind and ran into her arms.
"It was a lovely treat after having her eyes tested in the hospital."
Laura Anne, who had swapped her shift to spend the day at Broomfield, said: "It was like in a film. I saw a little girl from the corner of my eye, running towards me with her arms open wide. She gave me the biggest hug."
To top off the magical experience, the Phoenix ward won the internal hospital competition for the best decorations thanks to the presence of Elsa.
The decoration for the children's ward was inspired by the Frozen film and Laura happened to be in the ward talking to the children, dressed in the perfect costume, when the judges arrived.
See the video of Elsa performing and meeting Kiki at youtube.com/user/CourtRedhandedNews
