Oxfordshire man surprises his wife with life-size ox sculpture from charity auction
It's after the auction has helped raise over £200,000 for Sobell House Hospice as part of the Ox Trail
A man from Oxfordshire has surprised his wife with a life-size sculpture of an ox that he won at a charity auction.
The auction marked the end of the Ox Trail, which is part of this summer’s Wild in Art trail where more than 130 oxen have decorated the county, with them being designed by local schools and artists.
Richard Jones, from Oxfordshire, went to the auction without his wife knowing and was determined to win 'Oxslips and Cowslips' which is the name of the sculpture sponsored by Blenheim Palace.
The big surprise
Mr Jones suffered a very serious cycling accident was on 23 June this year and spent nearly four weeks in hospital.
He was discharged from the John Ratcliffe hospital on July 20, and his wife made it part of Richard's recovery where they visited an ox most days to help build his confidence and physical recovery.
Richard said: “This was one of the first ones that we saw, and she absolutely loved it. Every single one that we saw afterwards, we both said, ‘these are beautiful’, and she said ‘but not as good as Oxslips and Cowslips’.
“She helped me so much through my recovery and it was her birthday just over a week ago. So, this is a massive thank you present and birthday present to her and will also be a memory for us of this accident”.
How will she react?
When asked how Richard thinks his wife will react, he said: “I have absolutely no idea.
“She has no idea that I’m here and she has no idea that any of this is happening. So, I’m hoping that she’s going to be really pleased.”
Well, the life-sized sculpture was delivered by Sobell House yesterday, and here you can find Richard’s wife, Catherine’s reaction.
Catherine said: "I am absolutely thrilled with Cowslips and it gives me the feeling of hope. The trail was so uplifting and has been an important part of Richard's transformation.
"A little miracle in itself".
Richard also tells us that Cowslips and Oxlslips will take pride of place in their garden as the pair have just started redesigning their back garden. So, the ox will be the “starting point and feature”.