In the quiet of the Labasa Hospital children’s ward, John Bura, an eight-year-old heart patient from Wainunu in Bua waited for the Agriculture Minister Joketani Cokanasiga so that he could also celebrate Fiji Day.
The Class 3 student of Adi Eleni District School said he could hear the marching band and wanted to be out there with the crowd but his illness kept him in hospital.
John said he was just excited to have some cake.
Mr Cokanasiga with the assistance of other sick children, including leukaemia patient one-year-old Alan Leleti of Kioa Island, cut a Fiji Day celebration cake at the ward.
“I want to thank the hospital staff, who always manage to place a smile and make life comfortable as possible for the little ones that are afflicted with some form of sickness or other,” he said.
“The improving success of the health system during these 40 years owe largely to the passion and commitment put in by health workers.
“We celebrate with sick children to give them hope and wish them good health to pull through their illness.”