Depp Digs Deep

Richard Simpson - Daily Mail

Depp Digs Deep with a Pounds 1m Gift for Great Ormond Street

Johnny Depp secretly visited Great Ormond Street Hospital yesterday to donate Pounds 1 million of his own money to thank staff for saving his daughter's life.

He arrived unexpectedly at the London children's hospital where eight-year-old Lily-Rose was treated last year when her kidneys failed.

Last week he invited five Great Ormond Street doctors and nurses to the party for the London premiere of his film Sweeney Todd.

And on November 29, unknown to the public, Depp spent four hours at the hospital telling bedtime stories to patients dressed as Captain Jack Sparrow after having his Pirates Of The Caribbean costume flown over from Los Angeles.

In March last year, Lily-Rose spent nine days at Great Ormond Street after E.coli poisoning led to the failure of her kidneys.

She is said to have contracted the bug while staying with Depp, 43, and her mother Vanessa Paradis, 34, in a rented mansion in Richmond, Surrey, while he filmed Sweeney Todd.

Filming at Pinewood in Buckinghamshire had to be halted as her conditioned worsened so much it was feared she might not live.

Depp, who was yesterday named best actor in a musical at the Golden Globes for his role in Sweeney Todd, later said of the scare: 'It was the most frightening thing we have ever been through. It was hell.

'But the magic is that she pulled through beautifully. Great Ormond Street was terrific, a great hospital.' Disney, which made the Pirates Of The Caribbean films, will also today donate Pounds 10million to Great Ormond Street, which needs to raise Pounds 170million in five years to redevelop twothirds of the hospital site.

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