A Stevenage charity has helped raise money to buy a scooter for a pensioner from the town after a viral video showed her struggling in the street.
Shane Yerrell – who founded Through The Fight, a charity which supports those in need – set up a fundraising campaign after seeing a video, now viewed more than 410,000 times, of 78-year-old Molly Hutchings struggling to walk in Stevenage Old Town.
“My partner had shared it and said have you seen this,” explained Shane.
“It just melted my heart. I commented on the video saying that I run a charity and people said they will raise money.
“One man from America donated £1,000 to the fundraising page, but £150 was taken from the donation.
“He wasn’t happy with this and asked for a refund. He then paid the money directly into the charity bank account.”
£2,666 was raised in total, enough to buy more than just a scooter for Molly.
“The scooter was £1,200. I want to thank Hertfordshire Mobility who took £300 off it,” said Shane.
“We got her a new trolley because the brakes on the one in the video weren’t safe.
“It took a while to get in contact with her son just to check it was okay to do this and he said she needed somewhere to put the scooter. So we built her a shed.”
Shane and his charity also transformed the garden, which he described as a jungle, and even had enough spare to leave Molly with £741.
“I would like to say a massive thank you to Alan Bas who recorded the original video, and I would like to thank each and every person who has taken the time to donate,” said Shane.
Speaking to the Comet, Molly expressed her gratitude to Shane and those who donated.
“I haven’t been out on the scooter yet, but someone is going to teach me how to use it soon,” she said.
“I can’t wait to get out and about on it.
“I struggle to walk, I’m 78, but sometimes I think I’m still 28.
“I am really happy to get the scooter and I am really grateful to Shane and everyone who put money in.
“I’ve got a shed, they sorted out the garden and I’ve got £700 left which I’m going to put into my savings. It’s wonderful.”
Talking about the video, Molly joked: “I thought it was very funny how everyone knew me.”
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