A mum is fundraising for her own funeral after receiving a terminal cancer diagnosis.
Christmas Victoria Holdcroft found a lump on her breast before Christmas and her GP originally thought it was a cyst.
The 38-year-old from Biddulph, Staffordshire, was referred to the breast clinic to Royal Stoke University Hospital as a precaution, Stoke Sentinel reported.
There medics carried out an ultrasound, mammograms and biopsy before diagnosing her with primary breast cancer.
In the two months since it has rapidly spread and progressed to stage four.
Now she is trying to come to terms with the shock diagnosis, alongside her partner Chris Phillips, aged 38, 14-year-old daughter Aaliyah-Rose Wilshaw, and son Arlo Phillips, aged eight.
Over time, the cancer has spread to her spine, hip, stomach and lungs and she is now undergoing palliative treatment.
Despite the devastating diagnosis, the mum-of-two is determined not to leave her family in a financially difficult situation, and so has started raising money for her funeral.
She said: “Hopefully, with the treatment, I could be here for a couple of years, but I am not going to be here forever. I don’t think I’ll be here for longer than five years.
“We have no savings. My partner pays all the bills and we don’t have money left over for emergencies.
"If I die, funerals are not cheap.
“She is going to be helping raise my kids when I’m gone so they all need her financial support.
"There’s things like credit cards and store cards that everybody has, I don’t want to leave my partner with more bills."
As with many people who get a terminal diagnosis, the devastating news came as a big surprise to Victoria.
She said: “I was feeling fine, I wasn’t unwell at all. It was a complete and utter shock.
"We have no history of breast cancer in the family and I’m too young to have it.
“It’s surreal because now I am struggling to walk.
"I can’t walk anywhere without crutches or a wheelchair. I am in so much pain in my spine and my hip.
“I am devastated. I have two young children and I am not going to get to see them grow up as I wanted to, which is the worst thing about it.
"I did start to have some aches and pains in my hip before they told me it had spread, but I thought it was arthritis. The pain is excruciating.
"I am on morphine and they are barely touching it. I did go for radiotherapy and, hopefully, that will help with the pain."
The diagnosis has had a big impact on all members of the family.
“My son doesn’t understand, so I haven’t said much to him," Victoria continued.
"I made a comment about dying and he got really upset about it. My daughter understands what’s going on and is devastated.
“She is coming up to doing her GCSEs next year and this year is important school-wise. This has rocked her and she doesn’t want to go to school.
"She wants to be at home. She is terrified I am going to die and she is not going to be there.
“With my mobility getting worse, it does seem like I am going to go tomorrow. We don’t know how long I’ve got.”
Victoria has now set up a GoFundMe page to raise money for her funeral and her family. The page has already reached its £10,000 target.
“The support has been unbelievably amazing," she continued.
"I suffer with low self-esteem so I don’t think I realised what I meant to people. It’s really touching.
“My best friend said she is not paying into my funeral, she wants to spend money on me while I am alive so she’s treated me to days out and things like that. She took me for a meal and a theatre show.
“Just thank you for all of the support. It’s overwhelming. I hope I get to see some of the friends I haven’t seen in a long time that have gotten in touch with me.
“My family are the most wonderful people in the world. Everybody deserves so much credit. I hope I get time with them.”
To support the fundraising appeal, click here.
