When Nicola Hitchen was taken to hospital, she was simply seeking an answer to the abdominal pain she had been feeling.
Little did she know that it was the beginning of a long and tiring journey.
Initially, she was diagnosed only with pelvic bleeding and blood poisoning.
But when doctors struggled to remove the infection from her system, they discovered something entirely more threatening: Cancer.
Tests revealed a tumor on Nicola’s cervix, but the doctors had to wait until her infection was gone before they could begin proper treatment.
During the following seven weeks, however, the tumor grew and spread to other parts of her body. It quickly moved from Stage Two to a fatal Stage Four.
“It was such a shock,” Nicola explained.
It proved difficult to get rid of the infection in her pelvis, and by the time it had passed Nicola was told it was too late to begin treatment.
But the mom of two young sons – Joseph, 14, and Jacob, 12 – wasn’t prepared to give up so easily.
As she saw it, there were two options open to her:
“Either you accept this is what’s happening and sort your affairs out – or you start looking at other options,” she said. “The first wasn’t an option for me.”
Instead, she began her own research and found a center in Istanbul, Turkey, that had a treatment named ChemoThemia – combining chemotherapy and heat treatments to try and break down the tumor.
She decided to try, seeing it as a lifeline. According to the mom of two, the results were beyond expectation, almost miraculous.
“In 10 days, I went from being on six or seven different painkillers a day to not needing any. It was amazing,” she told British newspaper The Independent.
The treatments, however, came at a high price. The first five sessions cost £80,000 ($121,000) and Nicola got to a point where she could no longer afford the therapy.
Help from an unexpected source
Nicola was totally crushed. She’d made so many advances against the terrible disease, but now she was back to square one.
It was at this time that help came to her … from a most unexpected source.
Nicola’s ex-husband, Andy Hitchen, had re-married with a woman named Claire.
When Claire heard about Nicola’s situation, she knew she had to do something to help her.
Of course, in most cases there’s little loved lost between new partners and exes, but Claire wasn’t interested in any of that. Completely the opposite, in fact.
“Joe and Jake are my stepsons. Niki is my husband’s ex-wife and amazing Mum to Joe and Jake,” Claire explains.
“Niki continues to put them first throughout all of her treatment. Joe and Jake are also amazing big brothers to our three year old daughter and she adores them as they do her.”
Claire decided to start a fundraising campaign, with the aim of raising money so that Nicola could continue with the treatment.
“Money is running out and Niki may not be able to continue with her life-saving treatment,” Claire wrote on the Just Giving page she created.
She added: “This is not an option – the boys need their mum and she deserves the chance to watch them grow into men and have their own families.”
Taken back
The campaign managed to collect £50,000 in a short period of time.
Nicola was, of course, overwhelmed by Claire’s actions, as well as the generosity of so many friends and strangers alike.
“I’m completely overwhelmed – everyone especially Claire has been amazing,” she said. “I didn’t think people liked me that much.”
According to Nicola, the event helped the family to heal, and forged even stronger bonds between them.
“It’s brought us all even closer together,” she said. “The support I’ve been given has been phenomenal, not just from my family but from complete strangers too.”
Thanks to Claire’s selfless approach, coupled with the generosity of many others, Nicola was given the opportunity to continue the treatment that had provided positive results.
Her sons had a happy, grateful and optimistic mom who was given a second chance. There is no gift as beautiful as that!
Passed away in March
Sadly, the treatment wasn’t able to completely rid her of cancer. It was simply too aggressive and too far progressed.
Nicola Hitchen died on March 12. She fell asleep with her family by her side in Great Boughton, Chester. Nicolas was just 42-years-old.
Her sons decided to put the money collected for her towards an organization that works with malnourished animals. That’s what their mother would have wanted, according to a family spokesperson.
When it time for Nicola’s funeral, her story was already well known all over the world. Her memory will most certainly live on.
Despite all the bad, there’s so much good to be taken from this story. Nicola’s bravery and Claire’s selfless actions are to be made examples of, so that we all might be reminded of the love that lies in the world.
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