How 2 bottles of Queen Elizabeth's whisky arrived at a Minnesota hospital

ST. PAUL, Minn. (KMSP) - Two bottles of rare whisky from the private cellar of Queen Elizabeth II arrived at Regions Hospital in St. Paul, Minn. on Tuesday. The bottles, valued at more than $65,000, will be up for bid at the hospital’s annual fundraiser wine auction Saturday, but the story of how they arrived at Regions is absolutely priceless.

Sarah Bazey was involved in a helicopter crash in 1994, suffering severe burns to 40 percent of her body, landing her in the Regions Hospital Burn Center for 50 days. After 15 surgeries, 18 months of therapy and countless other medical procedures, Bazey bounced back to graduate from Harvard Business School, own and operate her own business and win several pageants, including Mrs. Minneapolis, Mrs. Minnesota and Mrs. International.

Bazey has used her inspirational story and personal success to remain an active volunteer and fundraising booster for Regions. As co-chair of the hospital’s annual wine auction, she helped secure the two bottles of royal whisky direct from Buckingham Palace, through a Harvard business school connection.

The single malt whisky is from the Queen's Cask. In 1980, Queen Elizabeth II visited the Bowmore Distillery in Scotland, where she was gifted a cask of that year's whisky. In 2002, the whisky was bottled and each year the queen has given three bottles to charitable organizations.

How you can get a bottle

One of the bottles of the queen’s whisky will be auctioned off at the Regions Hospital Foundation's 26th annual Wine Auction, Saturday, Sept. 19 at the St. Paul RiverCentre. Single tickets are still available and absentee bidding is available at www.thewineauction.org. The other bottle will be auctioned off on Nov. 20 by Bonham's auction house in New York.