Anaesthetists Brushstrokes Bring Joy to Patients at Tygerberg Hospital

Photo by Stephanie Ho via Pexels

Driven by a deep compassion for vulnerable children, a team of anaesthetists traded their syringes for paintbrushes recently to create a whimsical mural, bringing colour and a little light to children undergoing medical care.

Cape Town, South Africa (25 April 2025) – A team of dedicated anaesthetists led by Dr Shenaaz Essa recently worked together to bring colour, beauty and hope by painting a whimsical mural at the paediatric ward at Tygerburg Hospital.

With experience in 23 public and private hospitals in South Africa, Dr Essa knows all too well the challenges and positives of both systems. Her heart beats particularly for ill and vulnerable children and seizes every opportunity to bring a little comfort and sunshine to their often challenging journeys to restored health.

The colourful mural at Tygerberg Hospital – the largest district general hospital in the Western Cape that frequently sees countless children enter its doors for medical care – is just one of the ways Dr Essa hopes to spark childlike joy and imagination for those in the paediatric ward, away from family, home and school.

Not only do her efforts go beyond the typical duties of an anaesthetist, but they are the perfect illustration of bringing compassion and love back into the health system.

Dr Essa is also working on a 15-page colouring book to prepare and calm children before surgery with hopes to make it available to public hospitals, shares Gift of the Givers which has come on board to support this good doctor’s passion projects.

“Gift of the Givers is in full support of initiatives like these, with remarkable teams of healthcare workers in the public sector.

“Dr Essa’s experience will be immensely beneficial to frame the appropriate intervention in Gift of the Givers’ ongoing support for health for all in our country,” Gift of the Givers said.