Winnie Blagden celebrated her 100th Birthday 5 months ago. She received more than 16,000 birthday cards from all over the world. She died peacefully on the 11th October.
The star for a day
Winnie Blagden lived alone and independently in Sheffield, northern England. At the time she was receiving help from the organization Serenta HomeCare and had celebrated her 100th birthday on 31st May this year.
For the co-founder of Serenta HomeCare Sue Pinder said Winnie should not celebrate this landmark birthday alone. Winnie was widowed 35 years ago and has no children. She said she had not yet very many people who celebrate this milestone.
Sue Pinder then contacted the BBC Radio Sheffield who used Facebook to invite their listeners to send cards to make her birthday surprise very special. The post soon became viral and spread on the Internet. The article has been viewed more than 6,000,000 times and was shared by 50,000 people.
16,000 cards for Winnie
16,000 people sent cards from places as far as the US, Australia, Japan and even Romania for the occasion. The Prime Minister David Cameron and actor Dustin Hoffman were among the celebrities that participated.
Besides that, the many gifts were offered including an afternoon at the spa, a meal in a chippy, a cabaret show and a ride in a limousine.
Winnie, who felt she had not done anything special to deserve all this attention. She died peacefully on Sunday in her home.