Celebrities are well-known for using their fame and fortune to highlight good causes and support charities close to their heart.
Miss World 1975 was no different, and during a visit to Jersey 50 years ago, she used her platform to champion local fundraising efforts to try save the life of a very sick child.
The 18-year-old global pageant winner, Wilnelia Merced, was in Jersey for a flying visit on 22 March 1976.
She travelled with Sheila Butlin – wife of holiday camp founder and Jersey resident Billy Butlin – and was greeted at Jersey Airport by Miss Jersey, Sue de Gruchy, and the Deputy Chief Executive of Tourism, John Layzell.
She had a full schedule while in the Island, including several photographic sessions for Tourism as well as a visit to Fort Regent, a field of daffodils at St Peter, and a farm at Beaumont to see a recently born calf.
Wilnelia was photographed by the Jersey Evening Post at Fort Regent with builders who were working on the entertainment complex.
However, the main purpose of her visit was altogether more serious.
The Puerto Rican teenager was involved in the campaign to raise money to save the life of four-year-old Anthony Nolan.
Anthony Nolan was suffering from a type of leukaemia and needed specialist treatment that cost £3,000 a month.
A special dinner-dance was being held at Grouville Bay Hotel, organised by Sheila Butlin, of the Variety Club of Jersey, and Julia Morley, of Mecca, who were raising money for the Anthony Nolan Appeal in the UK.
The cabaret to entertain the crowd was led by singer Frankie Vaughan, who planted a kiss on Miss World’s hand, as well as comedian Freddie ‘Parrot Face’ Davies.
The 200 people in attendance helped to raise £3,000 for the cause.
As well as Miss Merced, in attendance was Shirley Nolan, the mother of Anthony, who spoke of her hopes to save her son, who was dying from bone marrow deficiency.
She said that she was “overwhelmed by the kindness and generosity of the people here”.
She had been raising money to treat her son since 1974, with technicians testing about 100 people a week and adding them to a donor register.
She said: “Once I have completed the project, for the next quarter of a century, no child’s life will depend on chance.”
Sadly, despite setting up the world’s first stem cell register, no match was found for Anthony and he died in 1979, aged seven.
However, his mother continued the work and the Anthony Nolan Trust has since given more than 28,000 people another chance to live.
Wilnelia Merced would later marry British entertainer Bruce Forsyth.
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This story has been told as part of a series in collaboration with Jersey Heritage.
To uncover more stories like this, visit Jersey Archive or search its online catalogue HERE.
