GRANDAD Tony Bushnell has handed over £1,450 to the British Heart Foundation in gratitude for the support he and his family received when his granddaughter Samantha needed emergency surgery when she was a baby.
Samantha, now five years old, underwent urgent open heart surgery when she was a few months old and is now hale and hearty.
But Mr Bushnell has never forgotten how surgeons saved the life of his granddaughter and has pledged the proceeds of the annual ploughing matches he organises to support heart charities.
The vintage ploughing match took place in July at Devenish Field, Grafton, and was won by Stuart Culkin.
And at Burbage Village Hall on Saturday night, Mr Bushnell handed over the cheque to Paul Bancroft, county representative of the British Heart Foundation, with Samantha given special permission to stay up late to watch.
Samantha's mother, Helen Walker, of Fyfield, near Marlborough, said: "We are so grateful to everyone who helped raise the money.
"Samantha is fit and well today because of the sacrifices that people made in the past. We just wanted to put something back."
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