Cancer has touched the lives of so many and is a sickness that makes some patients feel hopeless and alone. Nicola Hitchen is a 41-year-old mother of two from Chester, United Kingdom. Nicola was having pain in her abdomen and, to her shock, was diagnosed with stage 2 cervical cancer.
Nicola was determined to fight this cancer, but the news kept getting worse. She spent seven weeks in intensive care, but the cancer continued to progress and quickly jumped to stage 4. It was at this point when doctors told Niki that they would be unable to operate. Nicola was told she would only have a few more months to live.
But Nicola wasn’t going to give up. She traveled to different medical facilities all around the world and spent a lot of money trying to find answers. And she did get answers, the main tumor in her abdomen had almost vanished, and the other tumors in her liver, spine, and lungs had also shrunk dramatically. But even though she was getting her health back on track, her finances began to become a huge problem, but this is where an unexpected hero came in to help.
Nicola’s ex-husband’s new wife, Clare Hitchen, heard about what was going on and wanted to help. In fact, Clare decided to set up a crowdfunding campaign to help raise money for the cancer treatments. Her kind effort has already raised more than £21k for Nicola’s treatment. But why did she do it? Well, Clare knows there is no other option but to step up and help Nicola, claiming that the boys “need their Mum and she deserves the chance to watch them grow into men and have their own families.”
But what does Nicola think about Clare’s gesture? “I’m completely overwhelmed – everyone, especially Clare, has been amazing,” Nicola said. “I didn’t think people liked me that much … It’s brought us all even closer together. The support I’ve been given has been phenomenal, not just from my family but from complete strangers too.”