Hospital staff surprise 5-year-old girl battling cancer with ballet routine

A 5-year-old from the U.K. got a surprise from a couple of dancing hospital staffers.

Izzy Fletcher was being treated for cancer a second time at Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust in October. Dr. Baylon Kamalarajan and senior play specialist Emma Maunder wanted to cheer the little one up with some frivolous fun.

The pair sported multicolored tutus as they pirouetted and danced on their tiptoes to tunes from “Swan Lake” as Izzy looked on in the hospital.

“I can actually do a pirouette on one leg,” Izzy exclaimed before pulling off the move.

As Dr. Kamalarajan bowed down he joked, “I might not get back up,” to much laughter.

The 5-year-old ballet fan first underwent chemotherapy treatment for acute lymphoblastic leukemia in 2017. But she relapsed earlier in 2020 — Maunder and Dr. Kamalarajan just wanted to give her some joy.

“Izzy is a delightful little girl and is taking everything in her stride,” oncology nurse Dawn Forbes told Metro. “We thought it would be a nice way to cheer up. She always has ballet books with her and brings them in to read during her treatment. She was in to have a dressing changed last week, which can be quite anxious for a child, so we thought it would help relax her a little.”

Apparently, it only took Maunder and Dr. Kamalarajan a few minutes to come up with the routine.

“They both did a very good job, they showed some impressive moves,” Forbes said. “They only had a quick two-minute chat outside the room before coming up with the routine. Both of them have children of a similar age I believe, so they knew what they were doing.”

It appears the pick-me-up came exactly at the right time.

“She’s been through a really tough time the last few months and it’s something [the doctors] wanted to do for a while, but she’s been [doing] so poorly, so it was a nice special treat for her,” her mother, Vicky Fletcher, told BBC News.

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