SCOTSWOMAN of the Year finalist Corinne Hutton, who is currently in self-isolation, has offered her charity HQ to the NHS to help treat sick people during the coronavirus outbreak.
Corinne had her hands and feet amputated in 2013 after suffering acute pneumonia and sepsis. Last year, she became the first Scot to receive a double hand transplant.
Her charity, Finding Your Feet, supports people affected by amputation.
Corinne said: “I felt so low on Tuesday – day two of self isolating - thinking of our amputees and how they would cope when I wasn’t.
“Finding Your Feet will struggle to survive in such hard financial times and I was very upset at letting vulnerable people down.”
She added: “I woke up on Wednesday thinking positively and giving myself a stern talking to and started looking for creative ways to get through this.
“Many of our clubs to help isolated amputees will now be video links in the short term and our staff are capable of working from home.
“As our building could potentially be empty, we started to think of what we could use it for.”
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Finding Your Feet is based at St James House in Paisley, which is close to the Royal Alexandra Hospital.
Corinne wrote to First Minister Nicola Sturgeon to offer the building as a support site.
“I’m such a cheerleader for our NHS and grateful for all they have done for me, through my fight with sepsis, amputations, lung loss and then hand transplants,” she said.
“If there was anything they could use our offices for, I was thrilled to think we could help.”
In the letter, Corinne said she owed her life to the NHS and added: “Our landlord has given us authority to offer the use and we could even offer up our staff to help if that would be of benefit. In short, anything we can do, we will.
"We are all having to adapt to these new circumstances in the best way we can. I feel it's best to do it together.”
Corinne is one of six women shortlisted for the Glasgow Times Scotswoman of the Year award. The event has been postponed until later in the year in the light of the coronavirus outbreak.
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