Events & News

Mega ‘Mango Moment’ in the Maasstad Hospital

Combine the wish to give sick patients a good feeling with a job at a fruit importer and -boom- there’s a mega ‘mango moment’ organized in the Maasstad Hospital. Mike de Waard from Rotterdam will come by the hospital on the 28 th of October with no less than 400 kilos of mango to lift people’s spirits.

Handing out mangos is the start of the weekly ‘mango moments’ in the Maasstad Hospital. Mike will take care that every Wednesday, Thursday and Friday 60 boxes of mangos will be delivered free of charge to hand out to patients. “Being hospitalized is never fun, so you can see this as a positive moment that breaks up the day: the mango moment”, Mike explains.

Small gift

‘Mango moments’ are small gifts that have a big impact on the wellbeing of a patient. These moments got their name in 2015 when a Belgian journalist gave a mango to a seriously ill patient on the intensive care. The patient had indicated during an earlier interview that she wanted to taste a mango for the last time. She was overjoyed when she received the fruit, and many viewers of the tv-show were touched by this moment. Hence, the ‘mango moment’ was born.

“When I heard this, I wanted to do something”, Mike says. “The clip in the tv-show spoke to me, and I wanted to contribute together with our company Dole Exotics. As my mom works at the Maasstad Hospital, it was an ideal place to organize these ‘mango moments’.”

Luxury Care-week

At the Maasstad Hospital these ‘mango moments’ have become a normal part of patient care. Annually, a week is organized where these ‘mango moments’ and the extra care where patients are pampered take centre stage. “Giving extra attention to our patients is one of our top priorities”, says Peter Langenbach, president of the board of the Maasstad Hospital. “Not only in our Luxury Care-week, but preferably every day.”

Something extra for patients

According to Langenbach, the ‘mango moments’ are not limited to patients. “We also give extra attention to the family of our patients. Children of seriously ill patients get a Carebuddy as their ‘mango moment’, for example. A Carebuddy is a stuffed animal in which the kids can put their worries about the health of their father or mother. We try to give our nursing staff as many possibilities as possible to do something extra for patients and their families. These ‘mango moments’ are a perfect fit for that.”