The bronze statue of Peter Pan playing his pipe, standing at the entrance of the Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital in Cape Town.
Every day, hundreds of children and families walk through the gates of Cape Town's Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital. Most pass right by the bronze statue of Peter Pan standing among the trees, assuming he is just a familiar storybook character or a cheerful decoration.
Few realise the statue is there because of a four-year-old boy named Peter Watson, who died of diphtheria in 1923, long before South Africa had a dedicated specialist hospital for children.
Peter Watson, who passed away from diphtheria at just four years old. His memory lives on through the Peter Pan statue that welcomes thousands of children to the hospital every day.
His parents, Vyvyan and Gwen Watson, carried their son's loss with them for decades – a loss that would later find a purpose at the end of the Second World War, when South African veterans resolved to build a "living memorial" for their fallen comrades. Sensing a way to honour their son, the Watsons stepped forward to help turn the concept into a reality.
