Paula's wish is to see her 12-year-old daughter at her school prom.
Like most parents, proud mum Paula Wood is looking forward to seeing her little girl celebrate the end of her time at school.
But Paula, who beat breast cancer three years ago, has been diagnosed with terminal cancer in her bones.
Now a marathon fundraising effort has been launched by loving friends and family to raise money and look for ways to give Paula the time to have her wish fulfilled.
Paula, 49, said: “It’s hard to talk about it. One minute, everything is going really well and then you get this bombshell that you may only have weeks or months to live.
“I’ve gone from having a life and having a future, to having no life at all.
“For the first time in my adult life I was happy, and then you get a kick in the teeth. This has knocked us off our feet.”
Since the news, an incredible effort from family and friends has started the ball rolling on a fundraising campaign called Paula’s Wish to pay for any treatment they can find to help Paula have more time with her family.
Paula is in the process of sending her medical records to top private doctors on London’s Harley Street, and she hopes that there is a treatment out there that can help her have more time.
She continued: “Everything is riding on hearing back from Harley Street now. I am banking on that.
“Family and friends are scouring the internet, looking abroad, to see if there is anything treatment that can help me. My sisters are setting up a charity.
“You can only do so much on the NHS, I know, so we’re looking everywhere.
“I know that it’s terminal, but we are trying to stay positive. I just want as much time as I can have with my family.
“You’re grateful for anything when you have been told that’s it.
“It’s all about making memories now. There are so many things that I’m going to miss. I might not see my children get married or have kids of their own.
“I’m working to small goals now. That’s all I can do. The one thing I want is to see my daughter at her school prom. I would be so proud of her. That’s my focus.”
Her daughter Amelia is 12, and son Matthew is 17. They both go to Trinity Catholic College and live with Paula and her husband Simon Lazar, 44, on Cumberland Road, in Linthorpe, Middlesbrough.
View gallery “Amelia just doesn’t want to talk about it. She just can’t deal with it, we are looking for someone for her to speak to about how she’s feeling,” continued Paula.
“Matthew - well I think he is getting his frustration out at the gym.
“Simon has not accepted it either really. It has been so hard to take everything in. He stood by me throughout my breast cancer and he said when that was over, we would get married.
“We did that three years ago. This has been the first time in my life that I’ve been able to make plans.
“Time is now a factor. I don’t know how long we have got. I am just glad to wake up every morning.”
It has been a struggle for Paula to accept the news as well.
“I had never even heard of this type of cancer on the bone before,” she said.
“I was getting back pains, and in the end the only way I could get through the day was by taking paracetemol and wearing a tens belt. That’s when I really started to push the doctor. I had been for scans to see where the pain was coming from and couldn’t find anything.
“I had recovered from breast cancer, and had a double masectomy and my ovaries removed. I thought it was over.
“But then I went back because I had cracked my ribs, even though I hadn’t fallen over. I was having muscle spasms in my back and I was in terrible pain.
“That’s when it was diagnosed. It was only a few weeks ago. It’s the hardest thing in the world just to take it all in.”
Friends and residents at the Hillview nursing home in Eston, where Paula has worked for 13 years, have already pitched in to raise money for Paula’s Wish by organising a host of events.
“It’s just so humbling. It really helps you to try and stay positive. I can’t thank people enough for all the love they are showing me, I can’t believe the amount it” continued Paula.
But for colleagues at Hillview, where Paula was a kitchen assistant, they would never dream of doing anything else.
Lynn Manning, who along with Laura Mark, Gill Hind and other members of staff have put on a charity night and sponsored walk, said: “She deserves all the help we can give her. She is a wonderful person and is part of a wonderful family. Everyone at the home loves her, we just want to help in any way we can.”
Gill agrees: “She would be the first to do it for anyone else. We have had a great response from people here who want to help out.”
They are holding the Paula’s Wish charity night at the Whale Hill Social Club, on Birchington Avenue in Eston, on June 27 from 7pm. Club owner Trevor Thirlwell has donated the club for free, while DJ Shaun Hayes is also attending for free - while prizes have been donated by numerous local businesses for an auction, raffle and tombola.
Tickets are £6 and can be bought on the door.
Colleagues are also taking part in a sponsored walk to Redcar on June 14, and are arranging a charity bag pack at Tesco on the Trunk Road in Grangetown.
They have joined Paula’s niece Sienna, who raised £100 by washing cars at her school, while Amelia is making bracelets which step-sister Susan is selling to students at the university.
A group of children from Unity City Academy, organised by teenagers who know Paula through their mum Jan Pinchbeck, a friend, also organised a sponsored walk from Middlesbrough to Redcar. They braved the rain last weekend for the walk, in their pyjamas.
And yesterday, Paula's neighbour Sue Riley held a coffee afternoon at All Sorts on Linthorpe Road, between 3pm and 6pm.
A page for ‘Paula’s Wish’ has been set up on Facebook by her sister Tracey.
