By Amy Jones

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It’s been 18 years since Madeleine McCann vanished, and her parents, Gerry and Kate McCann, have never abandoned hope. Maddie was just three years old when she disappeared from the McCanns’ holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal, on May 3, 2007. Extensive search efforts followed, but the toddler’s whereabouts remain a mystery to this day. The parents endured additional anguish this week when they appeared in court to testify against two women accused of harassing the McCann family. Polish Julia Wandelt, 24, has persistently insisted she is the couple’s missing daughter and Karen Spragg, 61, is alleged to have played an ‘active role’ in Wandelt’s attempts to reach the McCanns. Wandelt and Spragg deny the stalking charge. During his evidence , Gerry said: “Well, we know she’s [Wandelt] not our daughter. It has many effects – we don’t know what happened to Madeleine. There’s no evidence to say she’s dead. “We really hope, and we know it’s only a glimmer, that Madeleine is alive. When so many people claim to be our missing daughter, it inevitably pulls your heartstrings, but there is a wider effect that is more damaging.” Even after nearly two decades, the parents have fought tirelessly to find their daughter, who would now be 21. As the couple make a rare public appearance in pursuit of securing justice, we examine how life has unfolded for the devastated parents… Since Madeleine vanished, Kate and Gerry – who first met in 1993 in Glasgow before tying the knot five years later – have been forced to find strength to carry on for their twins, Amelie and Sean, now 20. But the uncertainty surrounding their daughter’s fate took a massive toll on Kate’s mental health, and it led her to resign from her role as a GP. It wasn’t until 2021 that Kate returned to the NHS frontline during the Covid crisis. She reportedly served as a doctor in hospitals in Leicester and was said to be glad to be “doing her little bit to help” as the city grappled with skyrocketing hospital admissions. A friend previously told The Sun: “Kate’s back working as a doctor. She’s helping out at her local hospitals now and not doing any surgery work. She has thrown herself back into a full time job to assist others in need. There’s such a demand for qualified medics during these unprecedented times.” Gerry, a cardiologist who also serves as a research professor at the University of Leicester, was reported to be working in the same hospital at times, although they were “hardly ever” expected to cross paths due to the demanding nature of their high-profile jobs. Kate and Gerry, who remain residents of Rothley, Leicestershire, are devoted Catholics, though Kate confessed her beliefs have been severely tested throughout their family’s ordeal. Yet Kate has confessed her beliefs have been tested throughout the ordeal their family has endured. In an excerpt from her 2011 memoir, Madeleine, Kate revealed: “There have been many times when I’ve felt God has deserted me or that He has let Madeleine down. I’ve occasionally doubted His existence altogether. And yes, I’ve been angry with Him.. “For now, though, at least, my anger towards God seems to have subsided. I believe in Him and I still feel His presence.” The mother-of-three also emphasised her conviction that “wherever Madeleine is, God is with her”. Such devastating grief would challenge most relationships, but Kate and Gerry have remained united for 25 years. Nevertheless, Kate acknowledged their struggle wasn’t straightforward, revealing that her longing for intimacy “plummeted to zero” following Madeleine’s disappearance. In her autobiography, she documented: “The first was my inability to permit myself any pleasure, whether it be reading a book or making love to my husband. The second stemmed from the revulsion stirred up by my fear that Madeleine had suffered the worst fate we could imagine: falling into the hands of a paedophile.” She confessed that the thought of intimacy “repulsed” her after being “tortured” by such horrifying images. “I worried about Gerry and me. I worried that if I didn’t get our sex life on track our whole relationship would break down,” she admitted. However, she credited her husband’s understanding for the survival of their long-term partnership. The couple poignantly shared how they continued to buy presents for Madeleine on special occasions, keeping her presence alive in their lives. “I think every kind of event that we do, whether it be a birthday or a family occasion or even an achievement or something, that is kind of when you really feel her absence,” Kate expressed. “The presents go into Madeleine’s room to await her return. Her pink bedroom remains exactly as it was when she left it, but it’s a lot busier now. There are gifts people have sent – from teddy bears to rosary beads – and photographs and pictures Sean and Amelie have drawn for her pinned on the walls.” The devastated mum also shared: “She also has a keepsake box in which the twins leave little things for her: the last sweet in their packet, a new drawing, sometimes just a leaf that has taken their fancy. Everyone sits in there from time to time to feel close to her. The children sometimes borrow toys to play with for a while but they always return them for Madeleine.” On Madeleine’s 20th birthday, Kate and Gerry posted a determined message on the Official Find Madeleine Campaign Facebook page: “Happy birthday Madeleine. Still very much missed. Still looking. For as long as it takes.”