Paula Hudgell, the adoptive mother of double-amputee campaigner Tony Hudgell, has revealed she is recovering from major life-saving surgery after her bowel cancer spread to her abdominal lining. The 58-year-old former nurse underwent a gruelling two-part procedure known as HIPEC and CRS surgery, along with a hernia repair with mesh, describing it as 'the most brutal thing I have ever been through'.
In an emotional Instagram post on Wednesday, Mrs Hudgell shared a photo of herself in a black headscarf alongside Tony, now 11. She wrote: 'I won't sugar-coat it - that first week was the most brutal thing I have ever been through. The pain, the exhaustion, the fear… there were moments I didn't know how I would get through it.' She added that she forced herself to walk each day and was discharged after 12 days to return home to her family.
Mrs Hudgell, who received an OBE in 2022 for her campaigning that led to 'Tony's Law', was first diagnosed with bowel cancer in February 2022 after GPs allegedly misdiagnosed her 14 times over four years. The disease later returned as stage 4 cancer, spreading to her lung and peritoneal lining. She revealed that test results from the recent surgery brought welcome news: 'It was a solitary nodule, and no cancer was found anywhere else within that area or the organs they removed.'
However, she cautioned that further challenges lie ahead, with a CT scan scheduled for Monday to assess lung nodules. 'We are holding onto hope and prayers that they are stable so surgery can go ahead. If not, then it's back to chemo. Either way, we keep going,' she said. Mrs Hudgell expressed deep gratitude to the medical team at The Hampshire Clinic and to supporters whose messages 'carried me through some very dark moments'.
