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The adopted mum of a boy, who was forced to have his legs amputated due to the abuse he endured from his parents, says "GPs missed her cancer 14 times". Paula Hudgell made a safe and happy home for adopted son Tony, whose birth parents abused him so badly that his legs had to be amputated . The 58-year-old battled to bring in Tony’s Law - increasing sentences for child abuse and including a maximum life term for anyone who causes or allows the death of a child in their care. She received an OBE in 2022 for her services to the prevention of child abuse, while in 2024 Tony, then nine, became the youngest ever recipient of a New Year’s Honour - receiving the British Empire Medal for his services to the same cause, reports the Mirror . And the family launched the Tony Hudgell Foundation to enhance the lives of children who have been affected by physical, emotional or psychological abuse . Paula now faces a battle she can’t win - against terminal cancer. After finding out she was stage 4 terminal in June and that her cancer had spread to her lungs and peritoneal, she has revealed that doctors misdiagnosed her 14 times, taking four years to detect the disease. But it is her family - Tony, her other children Lacey, 13, Ben, 36, Ryan, 33, Chloe, 30, Kyle, 23, Jess, 19, Jaden, 18, and her husband Mark, 61, an asset manager - that she worries about most. First diagnosed with bowel cancer in February 2022, she is speaking out to encourage anyone suspecting they have cancer to ensure they are tested as soon as possible. Paula was 50 when she first saw a GP after suffering bouts of diarrhoea and constipation, but was told she had IBS and sent home. Reviewing her notes after her diagnosis, she realised she had seen GPs 14 times, but says she was 'fobbed off' with dietary advice, prescriptions for antacids, or told it was the menopause. She says: “I knew something wasn’t right, so I made an appointment with the GP, but was told it was IBS. 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. “I got used to my symptoms, but then, after four years, I was on the loo and it was almost like my late mum spoke to me and I called the GP with the grit I’d have used if one of the kids was ill and said ‘I need an appointment today.’ I went with a different attitude and wouldn’t take no for an answer. I’d started seeing the bowel cancer adverts on TV and demanded they test a stool sample. I knew deep down something was wrong, but I was so busy being a mum I put my problems on the back burner. “It was a locum GP and he agreed to do the test, thankfully. But I should have pushed harder before. I should have stood up for myself and demanded they (the doctors) take me more seriously.” Her cancer markers were “through the roof” and two weeks later she was diagnosed with bowel cancer, complicated by having been left for so long that the tumour had grown through the bowel wall. Her consultant believes it could have been growing for up to ten years. A critical six-hour operation , followed up with ‘mop-up’ chemotherapy proved successful, but then her bowel blocked twice and surgeons had to operate again and move the site where they had sectioned the bowel. Treatment included a temporary stoma and then, in June 2024 after her re-sectioning surgery, she developed sepsis and emergency surgery was required. In the midst of all this, Mark was diagnosed with prostate cancer. Fortunately, his treatment was successful and he was declared cancer free this year. Meanwhile, Paula, was told “the best possible news” - she was also cancer free . She says: “I didn’t even complain to the GP. I just moved to another practice and decided to put it all behind me”. But, scanned every three months because of a nodule on her left lung, in June, she discovered her cancer was back. She says: “I went to the appointment alone, because I had been called in to discuss a scan I’d only had three days before and didn’t want to manage anyone else’s feelings. "We sat Tony down and told him Mummy’s cancer was back and I was going to have to have lots more treatment. Hospital trips have been such a routine part of his life he didn’t question it. To him you can go through awful things, but you always survive - he doesn’t know I’m not going to survive this and nor do I want him to. We’ll keep that from him for as long as we possibly can.” Tony’s birth parents Jody Simpson, then 24, and Tony Smith, then 46, from Whitstable, were found guilty of causing his near-fatal injuries at Maidstone Crown Court in February 2018, receiving the maximum sentence available at the time of 10 years. Both were released from prison this year and in two years are entitled to change their names and move anywhere they like. They can even have more children if they wish. Paula is now waiting to hear whether surgeons will operate on her perineal, which will involve five weeks in hospital - five days of them in ICU. She says: “It involves cutting me open from the sternum to the pelvis, removing as much of the stomach lining as possible and flooding my stomach with chemo for up to an hour before flushing it out. "This operation is horrific. But if it gives me a little longer, I’ll do it because every extra day I get to be here for Tony is worth any amount of pain,” says Paula, who is planning to take 61 children to Lapland this Christmas with the Tony Hudgell Foundation. They don’t like to tell you how long you’ve got. I’ve googled it and it has scared the life out of me. One website said nine months but I’m not going to even think about that.“ Paula is currently nearing the end of her chemo treatment, which she has every two weeks. Meanwhile, her strength and dignity remain unshaken . She says: “Tony has taught us all so much about resilience and while I’m devastated at my diagnosis I just think, at least it isn’t him. He’s been through enough and has the rest of his life to live. I’ve had mine and it’s been a really good one. I consider myself lucky.”
