
Tony Hudgell's loving adoptive mother reveals she is battling stage four cancer - as she tells supporters she is 'ready for the biggest fight of my life'
The 59-year-old former nurse - who transformed the life of Tony, now ten, and campaigns for tougher child cruelty laws - was first diagnosed with bowel cancer in 2022.
After a period of recovery, she has now been given the devastating news that the disease has returned and spread to her lung.
'It's been a really tough few weeks,' she said. 'In 2022, I was diagnosed with bowel cancer - and after feeling the best I have in years, I've now been hit with the heartbreaking news that it's returned, and this time it's also in my lung.
'Stage 4. It's been a huge shock, and it's taken some time for us to get our heads around it.'
Sharing a photo on Instagram showing the marking on her skin from a portacath being fitted [a medical device used to administer treatments], she continued: 'In ten days, I'll start aggressive chemo.
'We don't know exactly what the future holds, but I'm ready to give this the biggest fight of my life.'
Paula lives in Kent with her husband Mark and their family, including Tony, whom she and Mark adopted in 2016 after he survived horrific abuse at the hands of his birth parents.
Tony was just six weeks old when he suffered multiple fractures, sepsis, organ failure and ultimately had to have both legs amputated.
Despite his traumatic start in life, Tony has grown into a cheerful and determined young boy under Paula's care - learning to walk on prosthetic legs, raising more than £1.8 million for children's charities, and even winning a Pride of Britain award.
He has also won the admiration of the Prince and Princess of Wales, who have publicly praised him for his bravery and resilience.
In 2022, thanks to Paula's campaigning alongside MPs and charities, 'Tony's Law' was introduced to increase the maximum prison sentence for those who cause or allow serious harm or death to a child.
Though she now faces her own health battle, Paula made it clear that the work she and Tony have done together will continue.
'To our amazing friends and family: thank you for your love, support, and strength - you've been incredible, and it means the world,' she added.
'As for Tony and everything the @tonyhudgellfoundation stands for - nothing stops. The Lapland trips for the kids and their families will still go ahead, and I'll always be Tony's biggest supporter, just from the backseat for now, letting others take the reins.'
Paula's message ended with a stark but heartfelt plea: 'This beast may have returned, but I'm not going anywhere without a fight. And please - check your poo. Early detection saves lives.'
Supporters have flooded her post with comments, including ITV's Good Morning Britain presenter Charlotte Hawkins, who wrote: 'Oh no, I'm so very sorry to hear this - sending you so much love & a huge hug. Keep fighting.'

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The Independent
12 minutes ago
- The Independent
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The Independent
12 minutes ago
- The Independent
Streeting tells hospitals ‘we have your backs' ahead of strikes
Wes Streeting has told hospital leaders 'we have your backs' ahead of a five-day strike by resident doctors, according to a report. The public are being urged to keep coming forward for NHS care during the walkout, set to begin on Friday, NHS England said hospitals and local teams have been preparing before the strike, which begins at 7am on Friday, and have plans in place to 'minimise disruption to patient care and ensure life-saving care continues'. Thousands of resident doctors are expected to join the strike, which is the 12th by resident doctors since March 2023. According to the Times newspaper, the Health Secretary told hospital leaders in a call on Wednesday that 'we have your backs' if they need to make decisions on staffing, while new NHS England boss Sir Jim Mackey said the service would be 'much more resistant' to the demands of the British Medical Association (BMA). 'We and you make decisions about safety, not the BMA. 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'The priority on strike days must be emergency and urgent care.' Strikes by resident doctors last June led to 61,989 inpatient and outpatient appointments being rescheduled. Since the end of 2022, almost 1.5 million appointments have been rescheduled as a result of industrial action. The BMA said on Tuesday that talks with the Government aimed at averting the strike had collapsed over the core issue of pay. Dr Melissa Ryan and Dr Ross Nieuwoudt, co-chairs of the BMA's resident doctors committee, said in a statement: 'We have always said that no doctor wants to strike and all it would take to avoid it is a credible path to pay restoration offered by the Government. 'We came to talks in good faith, keen to explore real solutions to the problems facing resident doctors today. 'Unfortunately, we did not receive an offer that would meet the scale of those challenges. 'While we were happy to discuss non-pay issues that affect doctors' finances we have always been upfront that this is at its core a pay dispute.' Mr Streeting said 'we cannot move on pay after a 28.9% pay rise', but added that the Government was looking at ways to improve resident doctors' working lives. He said there was an opportunity for the union 'to work with us on a range of options that would have made a real difference to resident doctors' working conditions and created extra roles to deal with the bottlenecks that hold back their career progression. 'Instead, they have recklessly and needlessly opted for strike action.' He added: 'All of my attention will be now on averting harm to patients and supporting NHS staff at work. 'After a 28.9% pay hike in the last three years and the highest pay rise in the public sector two years in a row, strike action is completely unjustified, completely unprecedented in the history of British trade unionism and shows a complete disdain for patients and the wider recovery of the NHS.' It came after research suggested public support for the strike is waning. A YouGov poll showed about half (52%) of people in the UK 'somewhat oppose' (20%) or 'strongly oppose' (32%) resident doctors going on strike over pay. A third (34%) of the 4,954 adults surveyed either 'somewhat support' (23%) or 'strongly support' (11%) doctor strikes. YouGov said the proportion supporting the strike over pay has dropped five points since it last asked the question in May, when 48% opposed the strikes and 39% supported them. Resident doctors are qualified doctors in clinical training. They have completed a medical degree and can have up to nine years of working experience as a hospital doctor, depending on their specialty, or up to five years of working and gaining experience to become a GP.