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TRAGIC END
‘Octomum’ Mandy Allwood dies of cancer aged 56 after life of tragedy that saw her lose all eight babies
OCTOMUM Mandy Allwood, who lost all eight of her babies, has died aged 56 after a cancer battle — and will be laid to rest today in a pauper’s funeral.
Mandy made headlines around the globe 26 years ago when she announced that she was expecting octuplets.
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The world was to share her grief months later when the awful news emerged of her devastating loss.
Mandy was even comforted personally by Princess Diana.
She gave birth at 24 weeks to six boys and two girls over three days and three nights — but none of the babies survived.
Despite going on to have three children, she never recovered from the trauma of losing the octuplets.
She experienced phantom pregnancies where she said she could still feel her babies kicking.
Her life spiralled out of control after the devastating loss as she split from partner Paul Hudson and turned to alcohol.
Mandy was arrested in November 2007 for driving while three times the limit when she had her three children in the car.
She subsequently lost custody of her children.
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She also became estranged from her family.
In a sad end to a painful life she was this morning due to be cremated in a service funded by her local council with no mourners present.
Her close family declined to comment but confirmed to The Sun that they would not be attending.
Mandy’s friend, Mark Beard, 58, said: “She 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.”
Mark, who is the landlord of the Yard of Ale pub in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warks, revealed Mandy would pop in two times a week.
He said: “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.
“She sometimes spoke about what happened to her, with the eight babies. People would often ask her about it.
“When we first met she told us who she was and she said she had been in magazines in the past but that was it.”
Mark said about a dozen of Mandy’s friends intended to raise a glass to her life tonight.
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He explained: “We are sending some flowers for the small service. The undertaker is sending some, too.
“It’s very sad that she won’t have anyone at her funeral.
“They just say a little prayer and it’s all over in five minutes I think.”
“She just didn’t have anybody really and I don’t think she was in touch with her family at all. It’s a shame.
“The flowers are going to be brought back here and put on the bar and around a dozen of us will be raising a glass to her.
“We wanted to mark it somehow. It only seems right.” Mandy named her lost octuplets Kypros, Adam, Martyn, Cassius, Nelson, Donald, Kitali and Layne. They were all laid to rest in tiny white coffins.
TRAGIC DEATHS
When asked about the tragic deaths, Mandy said: “Over three days and nights I miscarried eight times.
“I cradled each of them for two and a half hours as they died in my arms. It was horrible. Truly horrible.
“When I felt the last one coming, I said, ‘Please, God, let at least one of them live’.”
Mandy continued to lay flowers for her eight children at West Norwood Cemetery in South London.
She had said: “You will never forget your little boy or girl but you can’t change it.
“You will always have those memories and you will come through it.”
Speaking in 2018 about how Princess Diana had reached out to her, Mandy said:
“She gave me a hug, showed me lots of support.
“When we first met she said to me, ‘Thank you for keeping me off the front pages for a change’.
“We talked about her depression and my panic attacks and she told me she had been there, too.
“We spoke about her family and she talked a lot about Charles and Camilla.”
Mandy had revealed that Diana got in touch five weeks after the deaths.
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They had two private meetings in late 1996. Diana died in August of the following year.
LIFE OF ANGUISH
APRIL 1996: Mandy discovers she is pregnant and is informed there are seven foetuses.
She is told that she could either terminate all of the babies; try to reduce the number, or carry on with the pregnancy. Mandy and the babies’ father, Paul, decide to keep them all.
AUGUST 1996: News breaks that Mandy is expecting octuplets, attracting worldwide attention.
SEPTEMBER 30 to OCTOBER 2, 1996: Mandy miscarries at 24 weeks and gives birth over three days but none of the tiny eight babies survive.
MAY 1999: Mandy is spared jail after admitting two counts of fraud. She had posed as a business executive to trick banks into lending her money.
JUNE 2001: She won a High Court battle against publicist Max Clifford, whom she accused of making a “secret profit” from her story.
NOVEMBER 2007: Arrested for drink-driving with her three children in the car. She later lost custody of them.
DECEMBER 2021: Mandy dies aged 56 after fighting cancer.
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