A member of Mawnan Smith Panto Group who collapsed with a brain aneurysm during a rehearsal last year has thanked the hospital staff who helped her by raising over £2,000.

Sharon Hicks was first treated at the Royal Cornwall Hospital, Treliske when taken ill, but then transferred to the neurology department at Derriford Hospital in Plymouth where she received specialist care on the Moorgate ward for almost a month.

Thankfully, Sharon has now fully recovered, due in a major part, she says, to the excellent treatment she received in hospital.

To thank the staff on the ward, she organised a charity auction at the Red Lion in Mawnan Smith, where £2,633.00 was raised. All the money will go into the Moorgate Ward Fund to help with refurbishment of the relatives’ room and to further help patients and staff.

The amount raised was announced at a performance of this year's Mawnan's panto, Peter Pan, in which Sharon appeared alongside her friends.

Sharon thanked all her friends, villagers and local businesses who had donated towards this worthwhile cause. She said: “When something like this happens, you really appreciate the care and support of medical staff and all your close friends. I want to thank them all from the bottom of my heart.”