Steve Bull pays surprise visit to seriously ill Wolves fan who donated vintage handbags to his charity auction
Wolves legend Steve Bull paid a special surprise visit to a poorly 83-year-old fan after she auctioned off two of her prized collector's item handbags in aid of his charity – with a letter which reduced bidders to tears.
Muriel Emms met the goalscoring great after donating two designer handbags dating back decades for auction at the Steve Bull Foundation's Valentines Ball.
Mrs Emms, originally from Castlecroft but now living at the Eversleigh Care Home in Albert Road, Wolverhampton, had been a close follower of Bully's goalscoring exploits at Wolves as well as his charity work since hanging up his boots.
She sent him a letter along with the two pristine Enny handbags for auction, still in their original wrapping, from Wolverhampton's Hudson's Leather Shop almost 30 years ago.
In the handwritten letter, Mrs Emms wrote: "In 1962 I joined one of the town centre banks in the role of the manager's secretary and worked as such for 30 years before retiring.
"I purchased two Enny leather handbags a few years prior to leaving.
"Having always been taught as a young girl to prefer quality, and then to take good care of it... have been placed safely away and are still unused and in the original white covers.
"I would like to think that as I am now nearing 84 and will never require of them, they can be brought into use through your auction."
Steve Bull's wife, Kirsty, revealed the handbags were auctioned and raised £1,500 after the guests at last weekend's ball were moved to tears by the generosity of Mrs Emms who is seriously ill.
"People we so moved by her letter when it was read out and her situation," said Kirsty. "They were eventually bought by Mark Greenfield, of MG Shopfronts in Dudley.
"Steve was so touched that he said straight away that he would visit Mrs Emms and we all went along to see her on Sunday.
"She was so thrilled to see him, it was lovely. We gave her a copy of his 30th anniversary book and she said 'I will treasure that'.
"She wouldn't let go of his hand all the time we were there. It was so nice to meet her and know that there are people who would do such a nice thing to put others first even when they are so poorly themselves."
The fundraising night raised a total of more than £7,000 for the Steve Bull Foundation and the money will be distributed to Birmingham Children's Hospital as well as the Promised Dreams and Breast Cancer Care charities.
