Inside secret heartbreak of ‘Britain’s kindest plumber’: How ex-homeless father was inspired to become a ‘charity hero’ to help the disabled and frail pensioners after his son died at 16-weeks from hole in the heart – as fan Hugh Grant donates £20k

A selfless father dubbed ‘Britain’s kindest plumber’ has helped thousands of disabled people and frail pensioners after his baby son died weeks after being born.

Selfless James Anderson has touched the hearts of the nation with his generosity, which has seen him offering free plumbing for frail pensioners with cancer and donating almost £13,000 to help a seven-year-old disabled boy get a bionic arm.

The 55-year-old from Burnley has even won over Wonka star Hugh Grant, who this week donated £20,000 towards the father-of-five’s charity DEPHER, which stands for Disabled and Elderly, Plumbing and Heating Emergency Response. 

He’s helped thousands of elderly and disabled people in need since shutting down his private firm and launching not-for-profit company, and went viral after a picture of his bill for £0 sent to a 91-year-old woman with acute leukemia was posted online.

But the married handyman, originally from Liverpool, has had to overcome his own heartbreaking setbacks, which saw his baby boy William die aged 16 weeks in 2013 after being born with two holes in his heart. 

The tot, described loving by James as his ‘little Braveheart’ was born with two holes in his heart and spent his entire life in hospital. 

Speaking about the tragic loss of his lad, James told the Lancashire Telegraph: ‘He was a proper little Braveheart.

‘We spent every single day in hospital with him and photographed him every day of his life so his memory will live on.’

He was born at Burnley General Hospital on February 3 and spent 12 weeks in the neo-natal intensive care unit before being transferred to the paediatric intensive care unit at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital in Liverpool where he died on May 25, aged 16 weeks. 

‘He only cried once in his life but it was the quietest, faintest thing ever.

‘Normally, you don’t want your child to cry, you want them to be safe, but it was such an emotional moment hearing him do that… I’m so proud to be his dad.’

James’s wife gave birth to William 31 weeks into her pregnancy. Paying tribute to her beloved little lad, she said: ‘William was such a cheeky chappy, always winding up the nurses.

‘He could recognise my perfume as soon as I walked into the room and hated it when I stopped cuddling him.

‘Everyone will miss him so much.’

It’s not the first time James has experienced crushing heartache – the caring plumber has faced years of ruthless bullying at the hands of vile internet trolls for having ‘no teeth’. 

Bullies mocked him for only having one tooth and a ‘couple of stumps’, with people on social media calling him ‘gummy, grandad and ugly’ while one rang him branding him ‘a bloodsucker who should die’. 

After years of trolling, James’ self-esteem took a battering and his anxiety sky-rocketed to the point where he felt suicide was the answer to his living ‘nightmare’. 

In September 2020 James, who is married to housewife Barbara Anderson, drove to a bridge and considered ending his life, but thanks to the support of friends and family decided against it.

With the encouragement of friends, James set up a GoFundMe to raise the £1,700 – which paid for his new set of ‘life-changing teeth’.

Speaking to WalesOnline, James said: ‘I got my teeth done because I wanted to be able to smile and I couldn’t. Since the launch of DEPHER in 2017 I’ve been in the papers and on TV and people used to say ‘can you smile?’ but I couldn’t and I was too ashamed to tell them why.

‘I didn’t want them to know that I only had one tooth and a couple of stumps that were black and had crumbled away. If you put a wig and make-up on me I’d look like a witch when I smiled, it was horrendous.

‘I look back now and think ‘bloody hell, why did I allow myself to get to that position?’

James said an horrific dental experience at the age of 10, which saw him choking on his own blood after a blister in his mouth burst and fearing he was ‘going to die’, put him off getting his teeth looked at. 

The community champion added that as a boy, he faced years of ruthless torment for his ‘bright red hair, big nose and big ears’. 

‘I was ugly, I was skinny, so I got bullied. I got into a position that I just gave up, I didn’t care. I would get myself into situations where just staring at people and quite a few times I got beaten up and I lost a couple of teeth,’ he said. 

‘On one occasion I got really beat up and I lost two teeth, then again I lost another couple. I had around 11 or 12 teeth left and I just gave up with them. The remaining teeth went through neglect, I didn’t brush them regularly or go to the dentist.

‘I just didn’t care and thought ‘what’s the use of trying to make myself look nice? I might as well just stay ugly’. I just became what they wanted me to be, I lived my life on the pedestal they built for me.’ 

Following the heartbreaking loss of William, James focused on doing what he could to support other disabled children and adults.  

Earlier this year, he moved a seven-year-old boy to tears after donating almost £13,000 to pay for a new bionic arm for the football-mad lad. 

Alex Sparkes was born without a right arm. His mother Dionne Sparkes, 33, from Oswaldtwistle, launched a bid to raise £12,700 for the arm so the seven-year-old could take a throw-in like the rest of his football club teammates.

The Blackburn Rovers season ticket holder dreamt of getting a blue and white robotic arm bearing his team’s rose emblem. Moved by the lad’s tale, James decided to step in and pay for the arm himself. 

The staggering display of kindness left the disabled schoolboy blown away.  

A moving video capturing the moment showed Alex jumping with joy at the news. 

He said: ‘I want it so much. It would make me happy. It would mean the world to me.’

James fell ‘in love’ with Alex after he was told of his fundraiser by Carl Everitt, the co-owner of a local ice hockey club.

He said: ‘His story drew me in. If Depher can do anything, this would be it. The arm will give a little boy his life back. I fell in love with him.

‘He will remember it for the rest of his life and it will make his life much better. It will make a little boy live again.

‘It was humbling to meet him, and it was wonderful to see his smile when I told him. It was an easy decision.

‘He is smiling and happy and getting on with his life. It’s just wonderful to see a young boy go through so much and just want to be as normal as possible.’

Dionne said her son’s new arm meant the world for little Alex, adding: ‘For us, it’s life-changing, and James has just done it from the kindness of his heart.

‘I never thought someone would be so kind. When James phoned me yesterday he just said, ‘Send me your bank details and I will send it’.

‘As soon as we left his home, the three of us had a massive hug. And when we got into the car, we started screaming.

‘Alex was saying: ‘I’ve got a new arm!’ He absolutely loved it.’

Dionne said she’d had a normal pregnancy and didn’t expect that Alex would be born with only one arm after her scans came back clear.

And the mother-of-one said she’d never forget the ‘silence’ that descended on her labour unit when she mentioned to nurses that her son didn’t have a full set of limbs.

She said: ‘At 36 weeks they did a scan. You could see one of his arms, and it looked like he was waving – like he was showing his arm.

‘They said his other arm was behind him, and I remember thinking: ‘At least he’s got 10 fingers and 10 toes’. That stuck with me.

‘I was in labour for 20 hours, and then I got to hold him for a few minutes before they took him away.

‘But when I looked over at him again, I said: ‘What’s that? He’s got a missing arm?’

‘The silence was just something I will never forget. But when they brought him over again, he was using his arm as a dummy – sucking on it – and he looked so adorable.’

James found internet fame for fixing pipes and boilers for vulnerable customers free of charge.

He has helped thousands of elderly and disabled people in need since shutting down his private firm and launching not-for-profit company DEPHER.

His acts of kindness went viral after a picture of his bill for £0 sent to a 91-year-old woman with acute leukemia was posted online.

The receipt for the boiler repair was accompanied by a note reading: ‘No charge for this lady under any circumstances. We will be available 24 hours to help her and keep her as comfortable as possible.’ 

The handyman, originally from Liverpool, has worked hard to raise funds for the enterprise, using crowdfunding and donations to enable him to help people in need across Lancashire.

The father-of-five said he was inspired to wind down his private work and begin Depher after seeing an elderly man poorly treated by another engineer.

Since 2017, James has provided free or lower-cost plumbing to those in need throughout the winter. 

On Thursday, James revealed how Hugh Grant, 63, an his wife Anna Elisabet Eberstein, 40, donated a staggering £20,000 in what the caring charity boss hailed as a ‘wonderful Christmas gift’.

Taking to X – formerly known as Twitter – to make the announcement as the famous couple headed to Chanel’s Metiers d’Art show in Manchester, James said: ‘After speaking privately to @HackedOffHugh and Anna Grant. I have permission to share their wonderful #Christmas gift to @Depheruk

‘This wonderful and humbling donation of £20,000.00 will give hope to thousands of people, families and children, especially with the #CostOfLivingCrisis.

‘They both have my lifetime of respect and love.’

The kind gesture provoked an outpouring of support to James, with many saying it was ‘hugely generous’ of the couple.

One wrote: ‘Excellent news, some breathing room for you all’.

Others typed: ‘An incredibly generous donation that will do so much good in your hands. The difference this will make to people’s lives.’

‘Two wonderful human beings. Such a generous gift. This will go a long way to helping others.’

‘Fantastic news and what a marvellous gesture by them’.

Hugh’s kind donation comes as the actor and Anna attended Chanel’s Metiers d’Art show in Manchester on Thursday. 

The couple, who share three children together, took their seat next to Tilda Swinton for the star-studded event. 

Hugh and Anna wed in 2018 at the Chelsea register office near their £10million west London home.

The couple looked blissfully happy as they posed for photos while arriving for the collection showcase, designed by creative director Virginie Viard.