And here are the lives she touched
MOther of two emma Davidson, 42, is a Pe teacher who lives in Chesterfield, Derbyshire. ELEVEN years ago, my family was in the midst of an emergency — and Barbara Wragg came to our aid. My brother, James, then 29 and working as a quantity surveyor in Bahrain, had a serious off-road biking accident and needed urgently to be flown home.
He’d been catapulted 35 ft into the air and left with swelling on the brain, a fractured pelvis, crushed arm and collapsed lung. He was resuscitated several times on the operating table, before being placed in an artificial coma.
My parents flew out to Bahrain not knowing if he would still be alive when they got there.
The extortionate hospital bills (the drugs alone were £300 a day) meant we had to get him home. He needed two doctors and five nurses with him on the flight, costing £12,000.
We’re ordinary folk: we simply couldn’t afford it. In desperation, I contacted local radio and TV stations. Within 24 hours, we were told a lady had phoned in to donate £5,000 to get the ball rolling. That was Barbara. We were overwhelmed.
Barbara didn’t want a pat on the back, either: she never contacted us directly. Instead, she led by example. By donating so much, she encouraged others to do the same. It is thanks to her James got back to the UK.
My parents later visited the Wraggs to thank them in person. They were welcomed into their home with much warmth.
It was 13 months before James was allowed to leave hospital but, thankfully, he now leads a normal life. I’ll always remember Barbara’s generosity. She could see we were a family in need and she helped us out. CharlOtte Westall, 42, a full-time carer from sheffield, is married to Paul, 52. her sons are andy, 24, and Dale, 21. WHEN I met Barbara in 2001, I was stuck in a rut. My relationship was falling apart and living on a council estate with two young sons was tough. I was penniless, had zero self-esteem and felt anxious about passing that on to my children.
One day, I was helping to paint a mural for my children’s school — Park Hill in Sheffield — when Barbara came up to chat with me. When I told her about my situation, the first thing she said was: ‘You must get help!’
It was what she did next that helped me truly realise there was more to life. Since her lottery win, she had started to pay for children from the school to attend the annual local pantomime. That year, my sons were invited — and so was I. It was a lovely gesture, especially as it wasn’t something I’d ever have been able to afford.
The following Easter, Barbara and Ray bought eggs for all the school children — another luxury my boys had learned to live without. They also invited us to watch Sheffield United. The boys were over the moon.
What they gave me was the confidence to sort out my life. Going to the theatre, watching a football match, seeing delight in my boys’ faces — it inspired me to give them a better life.
I left my relationship, got married and found the confidence to become a published author. I put it all down to the push I got from Barbara. alisha tierneyMarCh, 32, is a stay-at-home mother of addison, nine, harleigh, seven, Kennedie, two, and elijah, one, from Chesterfield. she is married to Julius, 47, who owns a carpentry business. WHEN I was 14, my parents received a letter from my school, saying there was going to be a fully paid trip to Spain. There were 30 places and names would be drawn from a hat.
The letter explained it was down to the generosity of local lottery winner Barbara Wragg. She was paying for the entire trip and all we’d need was £50 spending money.
My holidays had always been in a caravan in the UK. I’d never been abroad. I was learning Spanish and planned to take it at GCSE, so a week near Cantabria was perfect. Our beach-side hotel was like walking into a palace. I felt like royalty.
Imagine ordering a drink from a Spanish waiter as a 14-year-old — it was wonderful. To this day, it remains one of my happiest childhood memories.