‘Is this real?’: Mum in tears as Hollywood star pays $30,000 power bill

Actress Kate Winslet has saved a mum who was faced with an eye-watering electricity bill to power her disabled daughter’s breathing machine.

British actress Kate Winslet has stepped in to help a disabled girl’s struggling family after they were faced with a massive power bill to operate the 12-year-old’s lifesaving oxygen machine.

The Oscar-winner donated £17,000 ($A30,000) to a GoFundMe campaign, which the family set up after they were warned by the council that their electricity bill – normally already high at £6500 ($A11,500) a year – was going to almost triple to the eye-watering amount.

Mum-of-four Carolynne Hunter said her daughter Freya, 12, has severe cerebral palsy and chronic breathing problems, and relies on the oxygen machine to help her breathe.

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Kate Winslet donated the full cost of the annual bill to the family. Picture: Rich Fury/Getty Images/AFP

Freya Hunter, 12, has cerebral palsy and relies on an oxygen machine to breathe. Picture: GoFundMe

“Freya has the most beautiful smile,” Ms Hunter wrote in the GoFundMe. She said her daughter was “enriching our lives every day”.

But as power costs spiral globally, the family, who live in a council house in the Scottish town of Tillicoultry, didn’t know how they were going to afford the massive bills.

A recent forecast by Cornwall Insight suggested energy prices in the UK could rise by 73 per cent for average consumers.

“I have no way of reducing the usage of energy in our home,” the 49-year-old mum wrote. “My older daughter and I have historically lived in fuel poverty to keep Freya safe and comfortable making sure all her medical needs are being met whilst allowing me to keep my bills as low as possible.

“We dread every winter in our cold home.”

The Oscar-winning actress paid the huge amount on the campaign. Picture: GoFundMe

Ms Hunter said nurses visit the house to monitor Freya’s heart rate and oxygen levels and frequently have to suction her airways so that she can breathe.

To try to manage the costs, Ms Hunter has stopped heating the house apart from Freya’s room. But as they head into the bitter Scottish winter, she has major concerns over the family’s ability to cope.

“We’re still freezing and we’re not even at minus temperatures yet,” Ms Hunter said. “I am nipping at the staff not to put the heating on unless it’s necessary.”

The mum, who works full-time on top of caring for Freya, said she was already struggling with paying her energy bills, but the rising costs were proving impossible.

Her mum said Freya has a ‘beautiful smile’. Picture: GoFundMe

“In March, I was paying £225 ($A397) a month. I struggled to pay that. Since April I have had £400 ($A705) a month taken for energy costs. As of October 20, £505 ($A890) is what I am being forced to pay,” Ms Hunter said.

The mum told BBC Scotland she “burst into tears” at the news that the Titanic star, 47, had made the huge donation.

“Our journey as family has been very traumatic and I just feel done at this point in my life,” she said.

“When I heard about the money I just burst into tears – I thought it wasn’t even real. I’m still thinking is this real?”