she is a Theodora clown doctor, she calls herself Dr Loo. She spends two days a week in children's hospitals being extremely silly with her friend and colleague Dr Chequers. They make funny faces, tell jokes, and do magic tricks. As she walks into the wards she blows bubbles, shakes hands with the kids, and makes up nonsense songs for those children well enough to sing. They take special balloons to make 'balloon animals' and tell funny stories about them. They often meet kids who one week look really sick, then They go back the next week and they're racing about yelling 'Hi there, Dr LooLoo! Hi Dr Chequers!'
She is naturally a very cheerful person. She has always been a clown. In fact Her father's a clown and she started working with him when she was eight years old. She knew it was just the job for her and she became a clown doctor because she thinks it's a great way to cheer up sick, frightened children in hospital. She wears a fancy coat, a yellow shirt, and tights with big stripes. Also, she has a red rubber nose and wears her hair in crazy plaits.
Being a clown in a hospital is very tiring both physically and emotionally. They have to learn not to show our feelings, otherwise thay'd be useless. Clown doctors are sensitive but this is not a side most people see. To the children we're happy all the time. She's still learning to allow herself to feel sad occasionally. There are special kids you get really close to. At the moment she is working with a very sick little girl from Bosnia who speaks no English, so our only common language is laughter. She's been in and out of hospital for operations so many times and she's always on my mind.
At lunchtime we eat in the hospital cafeteria and that's really useful because we meet the nurses and doctors. They tell us about particular kids who they think will benefit from a clown doctor visit. If a child is frightened, perhaps they're being given an injection or some nasty medicine - thay can distract them so the nurses can do their job.
About six o'clock Dr Chequers and she take off our make-up and change our clothes. Thay're totally exhausted. Sometimes she have a night out with friends, it helps her unwind. When she finally falls into bed, she crashs out. At weekends thay are often asked to participate in events to raise money for Theodora Children's Trust. It's a charity; so thay are paid with the money people give. Being a clown doctor makes the worries of everyday life seem small. All in all, she feel privileged to do this job.