Sleepy the sheep raises £19,000 for air ambulance

A 15-year-old girl whose father died suddenly on their family farm has sold her pet lamb for charity, raising more than £19,000 in memory of her late dad.

Georgia Hamilton and her three younger sisters were with their father when he suffered a suspected heart attack two months ago.

The air ambulance was sent to the farm in Strabane, County Tyrone, and after his death, the Hamilton family wanted to raise money for the charity that runs Northern Ireland's air ambulance service.

Georgia decided to sell her father's prized lamb - which the family had named Sleepy.

"Sleepy was one of Daddy's favourites," the schoolgirl told BBC News NI.

"I thought that since air ambulance was there so fast that it would be a good cause."

Just weeks after her father's death, Sleepy was put up for auction at Donemana Livestock Mart where he attracted lots of bidders and pots of cash.

"I was walking in expecting £150," Georgia said.

"I didn't know how to explain it because it was so shocking."

On the day of the auction, Sleepy sold for a whopping £11,800.

Farmers at the mart bought and resold the lamb several times, with each new owner donating him back to the charity, raising even more cash.

"It was surreal," Georgia's mother Joanne Hamilton said.

"A farmer would buy him and then say: 'I don't want him, you may put him back in.'

"One bidder would pay £500 and then the next about £400 and it just kept going up. In total, 27 farmers bought him that day."

The auction only ended when Sleepy was bought by a farmer whose six-year-old daughter wanted to take the lamb home.

But since then, other well-wishers have contributed to Georgia's lamb fundraiser and, in total, the teenager raised £19,171 for Air Ambulance Northern Ireland.

Georgia handed over the cheque to the charity earlier this month, as reported by the Strabane Weekly News.

Christopher Hamilton's death in early September came as a complete shock to his young family.

The fit 42-year-old sheep farmer had previously run the Dublin Marathon; captained Strabane's rugby team and had no known history of medical problems.

His widow explained that the whole family was helping to move sheep on a laneway outside their home when Christopher suddenly "sat down on the road and collapsed".

Mrs Hamilton called 999 and then tried to give him CPR with the help of a neighbour.

"All the emergency services were here - the police, fire brigade, paramedics, the air ambulance," she said.

The Hamiltons were grateful to all the emergency services who responded, but chose to fundraise for the air ambulance because it relies on charitable donations.

Damien McAnespie, fundraising manager with the Air Ambulance NI, said staff at the charity were "completely humbled" by the family's support in the midst of their personal tragedy.

He added that the huge sum raised was down to the "generosity of farmers in Donemana, Plumbridge and the surrounding areas" and showed how highly the late Christopher Hamilton and his family were thought of in the area.

The £19,171 will fund the air ambulance for three days and potentially save up to six lives, according to Mr McAnespie.

"I hope it will help them with their grief," he added.

The children have also visited Sleepy in his new home, on farm outside Gortin, County Tyrone.

"He's such an easy-going sheep, if there is such a thing," Mrs Hamilton laughed.

Georgia was particularly pleased that he was bought by a family which also has four daughters.

"He seemed happy. I was so glad to see him, because he's in such a happy home with four girls again."

The Hamilton children had each helped to hand-rear Sleepy since his birth as one of a set of triplets in the summer.

"When he was born his mummy had no milk so we bottle fed him and whilst he was getting bottle fed, he was always sleepy and drooling, so we called him Sleepy," Georgia explained.

But because Sleepy had such difficulty with bottle feeding, he had to be adopted by another ewe who had lost her lamb.

Georgia, who attends Strabane Academy, loves working with animals and hopes to become a veterinary assistant when she leaves school.

In addition to her lamb auction, the family asked for donations for the air ambulance in lieu of funeral flowers.

As of this week, that fund has raised about £11,000, taking the total the Hamiltons have now raised for the charity to more than £30,000.