Kate Winslet gives £17,000 to help pay life support fuel costs of 12-year-old girl
The donation will help the family of Freya Hunter, a 12-year-old who requires full-time oxygen and at-home nursing care.
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.A Scottish mother facing soaring energy bills due to the cost of running her daughter’s life support has received a £17,000 donation from Kate Winslet.
Carolynne Hunter’s 12-year-old daughter Freya, the youngest of four children, has severe complex health problems and disabilities, is non-verbal and blind and requires full-time oxygen and at-home nursing care.
Ms Hunter, 49, from Tillicoultry, Scotland, launched a GoFundMe fundraiser earlier this week to help her pay the soaring running costs of the equipment that keeps Freya alive, which includes a machine monitoring her oxygen and heart rate.
Just days into the campaign, which had a £20,000 goal, a donation of £17,000 marked “Kate Winslet and family” was paid to the fundraiser – which has been confirmed as a contribution from the Titanic and Mare Of Easttown actress.
Ms Hunter told the BBC: “Our journey as family has been very traumatic and I just feel done at this point in my life.
“When I heard about the money I just burst into tears – I thought it wasn’t even real.
“I’m still thinking is this real?”
Winslet’s upcoming Channel 4 feature film, I Am Ruth, is set for release later this year and sees her play Ruth, the mother of a character called Freya – played by Winslet’s own daughter, 22-year-old Mia Threapleton.
Winslet co-authored the film – which looks at the mental health crisis affecting young people in the UK – alongside Dominic Savage, series creator of the I Am anthology of standalone dramas.
On her GoFundMe page, Ms Hunter said she has “no way of reducing” the energy in her home due to Freya’s needs and she faced a predicted annual fuel bill of £17,000 in January 2023 – up from just over £9,000 in October this year.
In August Ms Hunter told the PA news agency about her fears for the winter, stating: “Our families are going to suffer, there’s going to be a mass crisis for the NHS and social care and children will die if their families are not able to pay for it.”