Amputee mum wins support of A-list stars

[b]A HOST of Hollywood stars, including Gerard Butler and Mel Gibson, are backing a Renfrewshire mum’s charity.[/b]

Quadruple amputee Corinne Hutton, from Lochwinnoch, set up Finding Your Feet after pneumonia almost took her life last summer.
The 44-year-old and her brother Davy decided to ask celebrities for their hand or foot prints so they could raise awareness of the charity and ultimately auction them to raise money for the cause.

Now stars including Mel Gibson, Gerard Butler, Vinnie Jones, Robert Carlyle and Gary Lewis, have pledged their support by providing their handprints.

Single mum Corinne said: “It started a couple of months back, where a friend of a friend knew Gerard Butler’s mother, and spoke to her.

“He sent me his hand prints, which was very kind of him. He said he wanted to lend a hand and we thought this was quite amusing given that I don’t have hands!”

The mum-of-one only survived because of a radical treatment called ECMO, which saved her organs but cut off circulation to her hands and feet. They had to be amputated to save her life.

Finding Your Feet, which aims to help those facing life changing trauma through support such as financial assistance and emotional guidance during recovery, has raised over £200,000 to date. And recently, Corinne — whose 5-year-old son Rory calls her X-Mum — came up with a plan to boost their fundraising efforts.

‘Lending a hand’ has already involved members of the Eastenders and River City casts, tv celebrities Ford Keirnan and Ross King and sports stars including Danny Cipriani and Bryan Redpath.

Word of mouth helped spread Corinne’s story to other household names. “Gerard Butler led to Mel Gibson and Robert Carlyle and Vinnie Jones,” she explained.

“Any celebrity can help me, just by giving my their hand prints or their foot prints in any shape or form at all. It could be that they draw round them, colour them in, paint them and give me a handprint from the paint.”

Corinne admits she’s got her heart set on a couple of specific star prints: “A right foot from David Beckham is what I’m working up to, but I really need to be there to do that myself!”

Corinne’s plight had already attracted public attention after she walked a mile on prosthetic legs through Glasgow’s city centre earlier this year. Last month she travelled to Philadelphia to climb the ‘Rocky Steps’, fulfilling a lifelong ambition. Now the ‘handprint campaign’ has started a Facebook frenzy after the charity asked if people would spread the message by changing their profile picture to their hand or footprints.

She posted a status saying: “I’m lending a hand to all those who need help ‘finding their feet’. Show your support, post your hands or feet and text ‘FIND02 £2’ to 70070 to donate to Finding Your Feet.”

People can also donate via JustGiving or at www.findingyourfeet.net