Olivia Newton-John’s selfless attitude can be best described in a secret hospital visit to a grieving and badly hurt girl in a Perth hospital in 2003.
Emily Barker was just 11 and in critical condition in Princess Margaret Hospital after a crash in Beechboro that killed her 39-year-old mother, Catherine. Their car and a truck had collided after lightning had knocked out traffic lights at the scene of the incident.
Soon after, the girl’s father Ron — knowing Newton-John was in Perth for a concert — rang her record label to try to organize a spirit-lifting visit.
The singing superstar did not hesitate, but ordered that her visit remain a secret.
“It was such a tragic tale and Olivia was very aware of what she was facing,” then-PMH public relations manager MJ Wallace told The West Australian on Wednesday.
“But she still came in and sat on the bed and held Emily’s hand for such a long time, it was just lovely. Olivia was soft and gentle and so naturally giving of her time to her and the father talked to me about how wonderful it was a lot of times after that.
“Olivia was simply dressed and only had a bit of mascara and lipstick on. But she was luminous, such a sweetheart in the true meaning of the word. She was a goddess with that gorgeous smile and she handled the situation so well.
“She put herself into a place where this was just a normal chat with a normal child and a father who had never been through any of this trauma.”
Ms Wallace said this had been a “sad week” with the passing of Newton-John and the Seekers singer Judith Durham, whom she remembered once visiting a child fighting cancer in PMH.
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