<div><br />
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Our Story
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>If you’re reading this, thank you.
</div>
<div><br />
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<div>This isn’t just a fundraiser.
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<div><br />
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<div>This is our love story.
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<div><br />
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<div>And it’s the hardest thing I’ve ever had to write.
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<div>Fourteen years ago, Paul and I found ourselves at a crossroads.
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<div><br />
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<div>We had both come out of difficult relationships and were trying to rebuild our lives as single parents.
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<div>I was raising two young children aged two and four.
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<div>Paul was raising two children aged four and six.
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<div><br />
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<div>Like so many people who have had their hearts broken, we hoped that one day we might find happiness again.
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<div>Then, against all odds, we found each other.
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<div>What started as two people carrying the scars of the past slowly became something beautiful.
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<div>Two families became one.
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<div>Two broken hearts healed.
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<div>And over the next fourteen years we built a life filled with love, laughter, friendship and hope.
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<div>Paul is the calm, sensible Englishman.
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<div><br />
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<div>I am the loud, crazy Polish woman who dances around the kitchen and loves with her whole heart.
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<div>We are complete opposites.
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<div>Yet somehow we fit together perfectly.
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<div>Together we raised four amazing children: Harvey, Tony, Max and Lana.
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<div>Today they are all grown up, with our youngest having just turned eighteen.
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<div>Looking back now, I realise that our greatest achievement was never money, careers or possessions.
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<div><br />
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<div>It was building a family.
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<div>A family built on love, kindness, loyalty and showing up for each other.
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<div><br />
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<div>My Paulino ❤️
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<div><br />
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<div>Most people know him as Paul.
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<div><br />
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<div>But to me he is Paulino.
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<div><br />
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<div>In fact, the only time I call him “Paul” is when he’s in trouble!
</div>
<div><br />
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<div>Now all our family and friends call him Paulino too.
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<div><br />
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<div>My friends often laugh at me, not because I talk about him all the time, but because of the way I look at him.
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<div><br />
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<div>Apparently, I have a look.
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<div>The kind of look that gives everything away.
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<div><br />
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<div>The kind of look that says:
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<div><br />
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<div>“There he is. That’s my person.”
</div>
<div><br />
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<div>They tell me they can see exactly how much I love him without me saying a single word.
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<div><br />
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<div>And they’re right.
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<div><br />
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<div>After fourteen years together, I still look at him with admiration, gratitude and love.
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<div><br />
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<div>Some people spend a lifetime searching for that feeling.
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<div><br />
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<div>I found mine.
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<div>Our Happiest Day
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<div>In 2022, Paul surprised everyone.
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<div>Especially me.
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<div><br />
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<div>The man who had always said he didn’t believe in marriage got down on one knee in front of our four children and asked me to marry him.
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<div><br />
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<div>Nobody expected it.
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<div><br />
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<div>But he loved me enough to make one of my biggest dreams come true.
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<div>On 28 June 2024, surrounded by our family and closest friends, we became husband and wife.
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<div>It was one of the happiest days of our lives.
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<div>We danced.
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<div><br />
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<div>We laughed.
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<div><br />
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<div>We celebrated.
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<div><br />
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<div>We believed the best years of our lives were still ahead of us.
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<div>We had no idea how quickly everything was about to change.
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<div><br />
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<div>The Day Our World Fell Apart
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<div><br />
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<div>At the end of January this year, Paul started feeling unwell.
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<div>I noticed his eyes and skin had become yellow and insisted he go to the doctor.
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<div>A few days later, just after his birthday, we received the news that changed everything.
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<div>Paul had pancreatic cancer.
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<div><br />
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<div>Those three words shattered our world.
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<div><br />
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<div>There are moments in life that divide everything into “before” and “after.”
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<div><br />
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<div>This was ours.
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<div><br />
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<div>The future we had imagined suddenly became uncertain.
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<div><br />
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<div>The plans we had made together disappeared in an instant.
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<div>Our world stopped.
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<div><br />
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<div>More Heartbreak
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<div>As if cancer wasn’t enough, our family faced another devastating loss.
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<div>On 11 May, Paul lost his beloved mum.
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<div><br />
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<div>He spent five heartbreaking days by her side together with his brother and father, watching the woman they loved slip away.
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<div><br />
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<div>At the same time, Paul’s father was trying to process losing his wife, his soulmate since they were teenagers, while also hearing that his son had pancreatic cancer.
</div>
<div><br />
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<div>The heartbreak became too much.
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<div><br />
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<div>Paul’s dad suffered a heart attack.
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<div><br />
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<div>Sometimes it feels like every possible storm arrived at once.
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<div><br />
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<div>Cancer.
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<div><br />
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<div>Loss.
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<div><br />
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<div>Fear.
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<div>Grief.
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<div>Heartbreak.
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<div><br />
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<div>All in the same year.
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<div><br />
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<div>The Man Everyone Loves
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<div><br />
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<div>Paul has worked since he was sixteen years old.
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<div><br />
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<div>He is an industrial plumber who still gets up at five o’clock every morning and has spent his life providing for his family.
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<div><br />
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<div>Hard work is simply who he is.
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<div><br />
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<div>For the last sixteen years he has also volunteered countless evenings and weekends coaching and managing local youth football.
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<div><br />
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<div>Not because he was paid.
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<div><br />
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<div>Because he cared.
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<div><br />
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<div>Because helping people is who he is.
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<div><br />
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<div>When colleagues heard about his diagnosis, the messages started pouring in.
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<div><br />
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<div>One senior manager said something I will never forget:
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<div><br />
</div>
<div>“Your husband is one of those rare people who still exists in this world.”
</div>
<div><br />
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<div>He told me that he and his wife often found themselves talking about Paul around their dinner table because of the kind of man he is.
</div>
<div><br />
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<div>That is my Paulino.
</div>
<div><br />
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<div>Kind.
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<div><br />
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<div>Honest.
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<div><br />
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<div>Reliable.
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<div><br />
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<div>Selfless.
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<div><br />
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<div>The person everyone can count on.
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<div><br />
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<div>The Darkest Months Of My Life
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<div><br />
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<div>I won’t pretend I have been strong every day.
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<div><br />
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<div>The last few months have taken me to places I never knew existed.
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<div><br />
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<div>There were days when I locked myself in the bathroom because I didn’t want Paulino to hear me cry.
</div>
<div><br />
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<div>There were moments when I was so terrified of losing him that sounds came out of me that I didn’t know a human being could make.
</div>
<div><br />
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<div>I have felt broken.
</div>
<div><br />
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<div>Lost.
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<div><br />
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<div>Terrified.
</div>
<div><br />
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<div>I have experienced the darkest days of my life.
</div>
<div><br />
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<div>But every single time I fell apart, I got back up again.
</div>
<div><br />
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<div>Because giving up was never an option.
</div>
<div><br />
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<div>Not when the person you love most in the world is fighting for his life.
</div>
<div><br />
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<div>I love Paulino more than I love myself.
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<div><br />
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<div>And I refuse to give up on him.
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<div><br />
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<div>Why We Need Your Help
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<div><br />
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<div>The NHS has advised that surgery is too risky and will not be offered.
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<div><br />
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<div>While we remain grateful for the treatment and chemotherapy Paul is receiving, I refused to stop searching for another option.
</div>
<div><br />
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<div>Eventually I found a specialist pancreatic cancer clinic in Portugal.
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<div><br />
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<div>After reviewing Paul’s scans and medical records, the surgeon gave us the news we had been desperately hoping for.
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<div><br />
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<div>He is willing to operate.
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<div><br />
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<div>Most importantly, he believes Paul has a genuine chance.
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<div><br />
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<div>For the first time since the diagnosis, we felt hope.
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<div><br />
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<div>Real hope.
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<div><br />
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<div>The operation and treatment will cost approximately £55,000.
</div>
<div><br />
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<div>An amount completely beyond our reach.
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<div><br />
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<div>But if there is a chance to save my husband’s life, I have to fight for it.
</div>
<div><br />
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<div>More Time
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<div><br />
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<div>We are not asking for luxury.
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<div><br />
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<div>We are not asking for comfort.
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<div><br />
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<div>We are asking for time.
</div>
<div><br />
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<div>More family dinners.
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<div><br />
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<div>More football matches.
</div>
<div><br />
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<div>More birthdays.
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<div><br />
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<div>More Christmas mornings.
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<div><br />
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<div>More walks with Bowie and Ziggy.
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<div><br />
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<div>More holidays.
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<div><br />
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<div>More laughter.
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<div><br />
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<div>More memories.
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<div><br />
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<div>More life.
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<div><br />
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<div>The photos you see are not just photographs.
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<div><br />
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<div>They are our life.
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<div><br />
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<div>Our family.
</div>
<div><br />
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<div>Our memories.
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<div><br />
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<div>And everything we are fighting to protect.
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<div><br />
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<div>Our Final Plea
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<div><br />
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<div>For months it felt like the light at the end of the tunnel kept flickering.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Every time it went out, I lit it again.
</div>
<div><br />
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<div>Today that light is shining brighter than it has since the day Paulino was diagnosed.
</div>
<div><br />
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<div>That light is hope.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Hope that this operation can save his life.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Hope that he can watch our children build their futures.
</div>
<div><br />
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<div>Hope that he can continue coaching football.
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<div><br />
</div>
<div>Hope that he can spend more years with his family.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Hope that we can grow old together.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>People often tell me they know how much I love him just by the way I look at him.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>They’re right.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Because every time I look at him, I still see the man I fell in love with fourteen years ago.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>And I am not ready to say goodbye.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>To the world he may be Paul.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>But to me he will always be my Paulino.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>If our story has touched your heart, please help us write the next chapter.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Every donation matters.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Every share matters.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Every prayer matters.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>And every act of kindness brings us one step closer to keeping our family together.
</div>
<div><br />
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<div>From the bottom of our hearts, thank you.
</div>
<div><br />
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<div>With love and gratitude,
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Marta, Paulino, Harvey, Tony, Max, Lana, Bowie and Ziggy
</div>

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Help Save Paulino’s Life ❤️ Pancreatic Cancer Surgery Fund

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Help Save Paulino’s Life ❤️ Pancreatic Cancer Surgery Fund

Still £22,230 to go. Help us build momentum.