John Key spends prime time with Grace

wta230813supgrace01.jpg Prime Minister John Key sports a red nose amid peals of laughter at a private meeting with stricken Carterton schoolgirl Grace Yeats, 11, at Wairarapa Hospital. Pic supplied to

Prime Minister John Key donned a red nose for a friend amid peals of laughter at a private meeting with stricken Carterton schoolgirl Grace Yeats.

Mr Key met 11-year-old Grace, who he dubbed 'Gracie button', during a private meeting at Wairarapa Hospital in Masterton on Thursday, her mother Tracy said yesterday.

The St Mary's schoolgirl had been left unable to talk or move after a throat infection in May last year developed in to an extremely rare brain illness called acute disseminated encephalomyelitis or Adem.

Mr Key, who on Thursday also had attended a luncheon at Wairarapa Trading Company and visited Rathkeale College, had set time aside especially to meet Grace after having missed visiting her while she was in Auckland, her mother said yesterday.

"We are very, very thankful to him and all the people who have helped. I don't know what would have happened otherwise. It's been pretty overwhelming the support - just amazing."

A Play For Grace fundraiser will be held on September 7 that will feature Parliamentary netball and rugby matches involving famous sports figures from within and beyond the region going head-to-head. The rugby match will be played at Carterton Rugby Club and the netball at the Colombo Rd netball courts.