My late wife and I went on holiday to Bulgaria at the end of May this year, she was suffering from the secondary breast cancer which had spread into her bones.

She hoped a bit sunshine and good local food will help her to deal with the illness.

For about two weeks everything was great, then one day she said that she just didn't feel well, and would go inside for a bit of rest.

That was the last time she was able to move without help. Her rest developed in the constant stay in bed, except for short toilet breaks. Everyday she would eat and drink less and less, and lose more and more of her movement abilities. She was refusing to go the local hospital for any treatment, as, she kept saying, there wasn't really much they could do. Eventually we persuaded her to be checked by a doctor, who came by ambulance, which took her to the local hospital after his examination.

In the hospital they couldn't find anything wrong with her, except of course for the cancer, which they flatly refused to treat in any way, as she wasn't a resident of this country, and anyway, there was no cure or suitable treatment for her condition. So we took her back to the rented house, but her condition became much worse, and we decided to take her home.

Unfortunately, the only option available was to drive her in an ambulance, by road, for more than 2000 miles to Edinburgh hospital, where she had been treated before. This would have taken at least 36 hours, at the cost of £4000. We were not sure she would survive the journey, so decided to book her into a private hospital in Sofia, at our own expense ( as it is impossible to get insurance cover for a terminally ill person who has less than 6 months to live). We meant to get her a bit stronger so she would be able to make that journey. So we booked a private ambulance to transport her to Sofia, which took 3 hrs and cost us £400.

Every day of her stay in hospital cost us around £300 pounds, which included her hospital stay, any medications required, food , transportation, and our own accommodation. While in hospital, her physical condition was becoming better - they treated her for dehydration and protein loss, and she responded well to that. However, at he same time, she was becoming less and less responsive, was struggling more and more to eat or drink. So we requested the doctors to insert a needle in her neck for intravenous feeding, which was done successfully. Then, early this morning, her heart just stopped beating, and she peacefully passed away.

Now we had to pay for the cremation service , a the cost of about £800.

The church service will be done locally tomorrow afternoon.

Because of the red tape her ashes have to go through a very bureaucratic process to be allowed in UK, which means we will have to come back later with the required documents and pay for special service to transport them.

All and all , we are about £6000 in debt now, which will be more by the time all is done.

My wife was a fighter, she never gave up, she always believed in best in people, was a very positive person, even to the last moment all she wanted from us was to have faith, and that she would survive.

I keep crying everytime I even think of her.

Unfortunately, I don't have handy any photos of her, and even if I did, she probably wouldn't have wanted me to share it, so instead I have chosen a photo of our dogs, at play - that was her favourite pastime - watching the dogs play and bring joy to the people around them.

If someone can spare even a pound, I would greatly appreciate it. Of course, no money in the world will make the grief to just go away, but the financial strain is just too much - we still will have to pay for the proper funeral once her ashes are back in the country.

Thank you all.