FRIENDS and family of heart transplant girl Hannah Pudsey have turned a day of sadness into a celebration of her life - and raised money to help other heart patients.
Hannah, who was just 24 when she died in February, had been due to marry her fiance Kevin Preston at All Saints Church in Nafferton on July 27.
On the day that she had been due to walk down the aisle, her friends and family gathered at the church instead for a day of fund raising in her memory.
The church was specially decorated and the organ played, as if for the wedding itself, and was open throughout the day in tribute to her.
In the evening, Reload, the band who would have performed at the wedding reception played at a fundraising event in Hannah’s memory at Driffield’s Bell Hotel.
The day of fundraising raised £1,219.70 for the transplant ward at Newcastle’s Freeman Hospital, where Hannah underwent her transplant in 2001.
Her mum, Mrs Ros Pudsey, said more than 100 people joined the family throughout the day. The money raised will be used to provide comforts for the ward, where other translant patients like Hannah are treated, often a long way from home.
Mrs Pudsey said the events had made it easier for the family to cope with what was inevitably a very sad day.
“It was sad, but everyone had a good time, and Hannah would have wanted that,” she said.
“It was nice to have something positive. People have said to me how can you do it, but otherwise we would have just sat here and cried.”
Mrs Pudsey said the church was beautifully decorated by Irene Anderson as if the wedding was going ahead, and the organ played throughout the day.
The evening event included a raffle with prizes donated by traders in Driffield and Nafferton.
Hannah, whose family live in Nafferton, was a former student of Driffield School and Bishop Burton College. She was born with two holes in her heart and a faulty valve and finally underwent her heart transplant at the age of 13 after over a year of waiting.
She became a passionate advocate for the Organ Donor Register and was remembered for her courage, bubbly character and the way she lived her life to the full.
Mrs Pudsey said she would like to help everyone who helped with the special day in Hannah’s memory. “The money we raised is going to go to the Freeman transplant ward where Hannah was a patient. It will be for other patients to make their stay more comfortable. Many of them like Hannah are not local and they are going to be a very long way away from home,” she said.