Shrewsbury Town players bring Oswestry hospital cheer
Shrewsbury Town footballers hoped to bring some excitement to children in Oswestry's Orthopaedic Hospital over Christmas.
But they found themselves on the receiving end of the entertainment as they met young magician Henry Davies.
Henry, eight, had been on the Alice Ward at the hospital in Gobowen for six weeks, and as he was keen to show the players, had spent the time learning magic tricks. Twice he baffled the lads by identifying a card picked at random from a pack, and despite the players asking for hints, refused to give away the secret.
"I got the magic set when I came in to hospital," he said. "I've been learning tricks for two weeks.
"The players gave me a hat and a pencil case. It was a great treat so I wanted to show them something."
Midfielder Nicky Wroe played Father Christmas during the visit yesterday, pulling hats, scarves, toys and goody bags out of a big red sack while Jack Gwilliams, Ryan Woods, Darren Jones, Luke Summerfield and Jermaine Grandison handed them out.
Eight-year-old Reuben Latham had just returned to the ward from surgery on his leg when the players dropped in.
Reuben, from Telford, was delighted to be given a hat and scarf and put them on straightaway.
His mum, Lisa, said: "Visits like this are definitely a good thing. It perks the kids up when they're in hospital.
"Reuben's only in for a day this time, but last time he was in for a week. It can be a bit gloomy being in for so long, so when something like that happens it's really good."
Defender Darren Jones said it was something they had all enjoyed doing.
