Divorced, Four Kids, And Fighting Cancer...Then Dave Came Along

When Emma Campbell met Dave, she was at her lowest ebb, but itdidnt put him off...

- Alison Roberts

Tears streamed down my face as I tapped out the message, ‘I totally understand if you want us to stop talking.’ as I pressed send, I thought I could feel my heart breaking. Dave and I had been texting for a month. we were yet to meet in person, but I’d enjoyed getting to know him gradually. we shared a flirty sense of humour and his wonderful, warm messages triggered little bubbles of happiness inside me.

Of course, it was still very early days for us, but Dave had begun to represent something I’d not dared dream of: a happy, loving future. My sadness was at having to end something so promising before it had even begun. Earlier that day, I’d discovered the breast cancer I’d battled four-and-a-half years before was back. The timing seemed intolerably cruel: just as my four children, Jake, then 11, and triplets Louis, Theo and Ella, five, were all finding their feet and I’d met the first man to spark excitement in at least half a decade. As painful as it was, I knew I had to give Dave the option to walk away. After all, taking on a woman with four children is baggage enough, let alone one with cancer.

The carpet man

My triplets were newborns when I discovered the first small, hard lump in my breast. It took six months to pluck up the courage to see a doctor – grimly, I booked the appointment on the day my partner and I split up after our relationship had been heading downhill for months.

It was my dad who sat with me as the consultant confirmed I had cancer. My life was in free fall. How could I look after four children when I needed so much looking after myself? Dad and his partner lived nearby and did all they could – minding the babies and cooking. Mum wasn’t as close by, but even if she had been, the night shifts would still be my responsibility.