FAMILY

‘Octomum’ who tragically lost all eight babies has died from cancer at 56

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A mom in Britain, who lost her eight babies, has tragically died of cancer at 56. Mandy Allwood became an international sensation 26 years ago after announcing that she was expecting octuplets. But at 24 weeks, she gave birth to six boys and two girls over the course of three days. Tragically, none of them survived.

Back then, Princess Diana personally comforted the mother who had lost her 8 children. In 2018, she revealed that she met Diana several times in London Hotels following the heartbreaking deaths of her octuplets. “She was absolutely lovely. She gave me a hug, showed me lots of support and told me she liked my dress,” Mandy recalled.

“When we first met she said to me ‘thank you for keeping me off the front pages for a change’. It was a massive boost for me,” she added. Although Mandy went on with her life and had three other children she never completely recovered from the trauma of losing her eight kids, Kypros, Adam, Martyn, Cassius, Nelson, Donald, Kitali, and Layne.

Although they were all laid to rest in tiny white coffins, Mandy couldn’t really get over their deaths. According to Mirror, she would experience phantom pregnancies and claimed that she could still feel her babies kicking. “Ever since I gave birth I have felt them kicking and moving every day,” she expressed back in 2015. “The feeling comes especially under my breastbone, it is like a sharp stabbing pain. I can feel it now as I’m talking.”

Things seem to worsen at home as well after she separated from her partner Paul Hudson. Then in November 2007, she was arrested for driving with all three children in the car while being three times over the drink-drive limit. As a result, she lost custody of her children and subsequently became estranged from her family.

That’s why Mandy was cremated during a Friday funeral with no mourners present. Family members of the mother told The Sun that they would not be attending the service. Even her friends weren’t sure about the exact type of her illness. 58-year-old Mark Beard, a friend of Mandy’s, shared, “The had been struggling with cancer for a while and had an operation before Christmas but told us recently that it had come back. I don’t know what sort of cancer it was.”

Beard, the landlord of the Yard of Ale pub in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warks, revealed that Mandy would stop by the establishment at least twice a week. “She blended in really well and was always up for a chat. She was a bit eccentric and nutty but that’s why we loved her,” he noted.

Cover image source: YouTube Screenshot | news.com.au