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