Pick Me Up! 02-May-2019

Logging into Facebook I let out a little squeal. ‘I’ve won the tickets!’ I gasped. I’d entered a competition to win two seats at a comedy night. And I knew exactly who I was going to take. ‘Mum I’m taking you to a gig,’ I chirped down the phone. I wanted to treat Mum to a night out to say thank you for all she does. But she quickly shot me down. ‘No you’re not,’ she said sternly. ‘You’re taking your hubby and I’ll have the kids.’ I tried to argue but she wasn’t having any of it. Typical Mum, always thinking of others. Always making sure me and my hubby Steve have quality time together. She’d do anything for us and though she still works full-time she offers to…

Here are my two babies Amber, 6, and Blake, 1 having a super time on the slide. Jackie Wilson, Basingstoke Even on holiday, the gym routine can’t take a side seat! At least I was on the beach... Jill Corbishley, Davenport Someone needs to tell my daughter Isabella, 2, that this bath was only meant for dollies. Lindsay Robson, Wallasey We were having a really good day at Chester Zoo despite the rain. We even made a couple of pals… Emma Matthews, Stockport I loved exploring the Roman Baths in Bath. It was fascinating and very relaxing indeed. Manisa Kuinkel, Harrow My granddaughter Gracie (in white) won Wigan Youth Zone’s Got Talent! Her prize was to meet Simon Cowell, and we had a fantastic day at the BGT auditions. I’m…

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Heading out one Friday in late 2015, I was excited about the evening ahead. With my friend Natalie, I headed to a party at local student accommodation The Forge, which was just a five-minute walk from home. I’d recently turned 18, and was working as an apprentice hairdresser. A night out with my mates was always the high point of my week. There, we met up with a couple of friends and some guys - including one called Omar, 21, who one of my mates was seeing. A bit taller than me, with a stocky build and a smiley face, Omar seemed like a nice guy, went out of his way to make us all feel welcome. He was a student at Northumbria University and drove a flash car with…

Omar hadn’t just been arrested for what he did to me. Sickeningly, he was also being questioned for rape. I was horrified, disgusted, to hear that he’d preyed on other girls, who’d probably been vulnerable like me. Suddenly, it dawned on me. I’d been one of the lucky ones. If I hadn’t fought him off, he could have done the same to me. Just five more minutes, just one more line… I felt so guilty. If I’d reported it, maybe I could’ve saved the others. I was still struggling with what had happened, suffering flashbacks, night terrors, and slept with a light on. When I closed my eyes, I saw Omar coming for me, pinning me down. I was offered counselling, prescribed antidepressants, and slowly started to open up about…

Cradling our baby girl, my partner Jennifer glowed, content. We’d welcomed Poppy in April 2015 - and two months on, Jen, 28, was proving to be a natural mother. It was no surprise. In the two years we’d been together, Jen’s caring nature was obvious. She filled her and Poppy’s days at ‘baby and me’ classes and trips to the nursery where she’d worked. Such a supermum! But a month on, Jen started having severe tummy pains. Her GP couldn’t work out what was wrong. In September, an ultrasound revealed she had gallstones, and she was told it wasn’t uncommon in new mums. So in October, she had an op to remove them. But it didn’t help. Later that month, surgeons performed exploratory surgery and that’s when they found a…