CORONATION Street's Maria Sutherland flew in to West End to present Calshot woman Maureen Russell with a laptop computer and free Internet access for a year.
The helicopter visit from Maria - actress Samia Ghadie - took place at Hampshire cricket's Rosebowl ground and was part of a national scheme, called Get Started, designed to encourage new users on to the net.
Maureen, 51, was chosen because her experiences are an inspiration to others to get online.
Living in an isolated, rural area on the Waterside, Maureen grew up in a large family and received no schooling. She wanted to get online but needed better basic skills and so signed up for a free literacy and numeracy course through a Totton College "Skills for Life" course at the Black-field UK Online Centre.
Now she is happily surfing the Web and sending e-mails around the world.
Tutor Jackie Stewart said: "She has come a long way over the past three years and it's been a joy to see her become more independent and self-confident."
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