The auction of Bianca McPherson's heart shaped holed potato has raised $20,000 for Starship Children's Hospital. Photo: Supplied
A 10-year-old from Auckland's North Shore has raised $20,000 for Starship Children's Hospital by auctioning a uniquely shaped potato chip on Trade Me.
When Bianca McPherson found a heart-shaped hole in one of her Bluebird crisps her first thought was that it would make her Mum smile.
But when her Dad suggested she auction the chip she realised she could do much more with the tasty anomaly.
She immediately thought of the people at Starship Children's Hospital who had mended her sister's broken arm and helped her cousin.
"When my little cousin was born she couldn't walk that well, they put her in a cast and everything and now she can walk perfectly fine. I just want to help the people who need help more and more everyday," McPherson said.
Bianca's mum Sasha McPherson said bids initially climbed as high as $7000 but fell back to $2000 as people retracted their pledges.
"Disappointing for us but at the end of the day we want to make sure that whoever the winning bidder is can actually pay for it. You'd hate to think that someone had got caught up and excited to be part of something but not able to follow through," she said.
The sting was tempered by a well-timed message from Bluebird which, halfway through the auction, offered to match the amount of the winner's bid.
The chip's maker Bluebird came to the party and offered to match the amount of the winner's bid. Photo: Supplied
In the final hours of the auction a bidder upped the ante to $3000 and then, with minutes remaining, added a second bid to win the chip for a whopping $5000.
The bidder then contacted the family and agreed to double their pledge if Bluebird would do the same.
Trade Me also waived their success fees to ensure 100 percent of the money raised would go to Starship and said they were thrilled with the final result for Bianca's heart-shaped hole chip.
Starship Foundation chief executive Jo Simon said the $20,000 would go into a grant system to pay for research, equipment and the national air ambulance that brought child patients to Starship Hospital.
"To people like Bianca we just say a big thank you. Thank you to her and her supporters and their efforts to support our work because without them we can't support the vital work that the hospital and the Starship children's health service needs," Simon said.
Bianca McPherson said she hoped 'every coin will help'.
"I just want to say a humongous thank you to the winner of the auction," she said.
