Reynolds' donation to baby op appeal 'unbelievable'

Hollywood star Ryan Reynolds has donated an "unbelievable" £10,000 to an appeal raising funds for a baby to have a heart operation in the US.

Mum Jasmin, from Shropshire, is seeking to raise £1.5m for her son Ollie, aged one, and has already reached £300,000, with another £100,000 promised.

Reynolds, who is also co-chair of Wrexham AFC, said her fundraiser was brought to his attention when one of the players' wives saw the appeal on social media.

Jasmin, from Gobowen, described his donation as "absolutely unbelievable". Ollie was born with a hole in his heart and defects in his arteries, and UK medics told her they were unable to operate, and could only offer palliative care.

In the US however, Stanford Children's Hospital in California has told her an operation should be possible, but she needs to raise the money to pay for that, along with the post-surgery treatments.

Initially, Jasmin's appeal was seeking to raise £3m, but has since been reduced to £1.5m.

After £60,000 was raised in the first six weeks, she said the appeal really took off after her story was shared on TikTok and Instagram, where it has had combined views of more than four million.

She said Reynolds' donation, which came on Wednesday evening, had not been a complete surprise, because the wife of Wrexham goalkeeper Callum Burton had told her the appeal had been brought to his attention.

Donations of £10,000 had also been made by author Leigh Rivers and the nutrition supplement company Applied Nutrition, she said.

The online lottery company Chaotic has also promised the £100,000, which is still to come, after setting up a competition to raise money for Ollie's fund.

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