Paula Hudgell — the inspiring mom who captured hearts across Britain for adopting and fighting for justice for her severely abused son, Tony — is now fighting her own heartbreaking battle.

The 56-year-old mother, who was honored with an OBE (Order of the British Empire) in 2022 for her work preventing child abuse, revealed she was dismissed by doctors 14 times before finally being diagnosed with stage 4 bowel cancer.

“I knew something wasn’t right..”
For many Brits, Paula Hudgell is a familiar face.

She and her husband, Mark, adopted Tony Hudgell, now 11, after he was horrifically abused by his biological parents as a baby. Tony was just six weeks old when he suffered such severe injuries that both of his legs had to be amputated.

Thanks to the medical staff and his foster parents, Tony was able to survive.

”I can’t remember a case where the level of care has been higher than this… because as you know baby Tony was seconds away from death when he arrived at the doctors surgery,” Judge Philip Statman shared after sentencing Tony’s birth parents, Jody Simpson and Anthony Smith, to prison in 2018.

The Hudgells fostered Tony when he was just a baby, and officially adopted him in 2016. But while Paula poured her life into giving Tony a future, her own health quietly began to deteriorate.

“I knew something wasn’t right, so I made an appointment with the GP, but was told it was IBS,” Paula told The Mirror.

“I kept going back, but my symptoms would last for three or four weeks and then settle down, so I thought maybe the GPs were right.”

Diarrhea and constipation
She had been suffering from bouts of diarrhea and constipation for years — symptoms that were repeatedly brushed off.