Astronaut Tim Peake touches down at Great Ormond Street Hospital

British ESA astronaut Tim Peake landed at Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH), making an extra special visit to seriously ill children in the hospital and revealing the secrets of his life in space.The astronaut, who broke boundaries while in space, met staff and patients from the world leading research hospital. He visited patients including six-year-old Maddison, who first spoke to Tim Peake from an isolation ward when he called the hospital from space earlier this year, while she was being treated at GOSH for acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL). Now Maddison has recovered enough to leave the isolation ward and Tim Peake has adjusted to life back on earth, their face-to-face meeting had an extra special meaning for them both.

While in the hospital, Tim Peake met with GOSH’s Director of Research and Development, Professor David Goldblatt, who explained how GOSH’s ground-breaking medical research is helping to transform the care and treatment given to patients, including some of the children that met Tim this morning.

He told Tim Peake how research projects are transforming the lives of children with the rarest and most complex conditions. The hospital ran 1,251 research projects in the last year, involving 909 researchers, to discover vital clues to fight childhood diseases.

GOSH patient Maddison, who spent 53 days in isolation whilst having a bone marrow transplant, said: “I really liked speaking to Tim when he was living up in space, but it was so much fun to meet him in real life. I asked him what it was like to float in space and whether he missed it.”

Tim Peake said: “It was fantastic to meet some of the patients, families and staff at GOSH today, after hearing all about their experiences when I called down from space earlier this year. In particular, meeting Maddison in person, now that she is out of the isolation wing and back with her family, was incredible and testament to the excellent care that she receives at the hospital. I was fascinated to discover more on my visit about how the hospital is pushing the boundaries and making new discoveries every day that transforms the way these brave children are being cared for.”

Professor David Goldblatt, Director of Clinical Research & Development at Great Ormond Street Hospital said: ““It was a real honour to meet with Tim Peake today and show him Great Ormond Street Hospital’s pioneering research in action, where innovative discoveries made in our labs are translated into vital new treatments for children with rare and complex diseases.”

“Many of the children treated at GOSH, including some of those that Tim met, have rare or complex conditions which are difficult to diagnose and treat, so the hospital’s pioneering research gives hope to children and their families from across the UK.”

Last week the NIHR Great Ormond Street Biomedical Research Centre (BRC) was awarded £37 million in funding to drive forward translational research into rare diseases in children. The Centre is the only one of its kind in the UK dedicated to paediatric research.