Kindhearted students have brightened the life of a terminally ill Tayside woman after restoring her vandalised camper van.
Fi Munro was left distraught when her bright yellow Volkswagen – nicknamed Wini – was damaged while it was parked outside her Carse of Gowrie home in December.
Owning the campervan was the realisation of a lifelong dream for 34-year-old Fi, who was diagnosed with stage four ovarian cancer in 2016.
Despite surgery to remove five of her organs and a period in remission, she received the devastating news early last year that tumours had returned to her right lung and left kidney.
She has been using her background as a PhD researcher and skills in reiki, yoga, crystal therapy and meditation to work as a spiritual life coach and mentor following the news her cancer was incurable.
Fi bought the campervan after being medically retired and was shocked to find it had been vandalised in the quiet community.
After hearing about the damage to her pride and joy, Perth College vehicle body repair and refinishing lecturer Duncan Reid offered his help in repairing Wini – the second Good Samaritan gesture by students this year.
“The students involved were from our level 5/6 Diploma spray painting group,” said Duncan.
“They are a talented group and were very keen to be involved helping Fi get her beloved camper back to the way it was.
“The students learned about suitable abrasives to remove the scratch and were able to match the unusual yellow colour that the camper had been previously been resprayed with.
“This is such a worthwhile experience for the students as it will be used for evidence in their portfolios,” said Duncan, who thanked Gil’s Motor Factors in Perth for donating the paint for the job.
Fi said she was “completely overwhelmed” by the kind gesture from the students at the college as well as Duncan.
She said: “This is a wonderful opportunity for the students to see that their work not only matters but that it can make a difference too.”
Nikki had been parked with permission in a disabled space at the garden centre after taking a group of elderly ladies to the group’s Christmas party and believes an angry driver scratched the side of her car because it was not displaying a blue badge.
The students’ help has rescued Nikki’s plans for a high tea treat for the group members after saving her the hundreds of pounds she might have had to lay out on bodywork repairs.
