Brave Maggie loses her fight for life

The brave mother-of-six collapsed in the Eurotunnel on the way home from a controversial German clinic which she hoped would prolong her life.

Maggie, 46, died in the arms of her devoted husband David.

He said: “It happened so fast. One minute she was with it, then I looked over and realised something was wrong.

“I was calling her name, talking to her and stroking her hair.

“Her aunt, who’s a nurse, was with us. We tried CPR in the car.

“There must be cameras in the tunnel because they sent down a team and an ambulance to try to revive her. But it was too late.

“I thought I was prepared but you always have that little spark of hope – you think not now, not today.”

He added: “I feel as if my heart has been broken.”

The devastated dad said it was some consolation that they were together: “If she’d been at the clinic on her own, I’d have been concerned that she was in pain or crying for the children.”

Telling the family broke his heart all over again.

“Liam and Ann burst into tears. But little Cian hasn’t a clue.

“I thought Fintan understood what had happened but the phone rang after I’d told him and he asked: ‘Is that Mummy?’”

Maggie (pictured above) remained upbeat until the very end.

She was positive she was going to beat the disease that was first diagnosed in 2009. She had a radical mastectomy but the cancer rapidly spread to her liver, ribs, hips, spine and finally brain.

The family went to Lourdes and former Cardinal Newman pupil Maggie embarked on a course of cutting edge hyperthermia therapy in a desperate bid to prolong her life.

The only time she broke down was when she told David, her childhood sweetheart, she was worried that Fintan, then four, wouldn’t remember her.

David, a commercial photographer who went to Cedars Upper School in Leighton Buzzard, contacted the Herald&Post last year to ask generous readers to contribute to the cost of the treatment as they had remortgaged their house and used all their savings in their quest for a cure.

The couple were touched and humbled by the response.

David said: “Words cannot express my heartfelt emotions to thank everyone for their help, their hope and their prayers.”

The funeral will take place at St Mary’s Church in West Street, Dunstable, at 9.30am on Monday (February 27).

It’s where Maggie and David were married and where four of their children were christened. Family flowers only. Donations to www.maggieshope.co.uk