Terminally ill Swansea mother asks for Christmas cards

When Clare Jones posted on Facebook asking for extra Christmas cards to make her last Christmas “super special,” she never expected thousands of responses.

The mother-of-three was diagnosed with bowel cancer in May 2022, but was recently told her chemotherapy was no longer responding and she had around 10 months to live.

“I’m a simple person who likes simple things,” Clare said in her post, adding, “I love Christmas cards. I would love to have lots of cards this year.”

“So I’m asking you nicely, when you’re making your cards, could you put an extra one in the mail for me?”

What Clare, 47, hoped would be between 10 and 15 extra Christmas cards from friends has been shared by more than 10,000 people, with hundreds of people from around the world flocking to the comments with well wishes.

Clare said she has been “overwhelmed” with love and has received thousands of Christmas cards so far, along with flowers, chocolates, personalized gifts, theater tickets and even caravan holidays.

“Someone even offered me to spend a night with them,” Clare laughed.

“I said, ‘That’s very kind of you, but no, thank you.'”

Clare, from Pontarddulais, Swansea, said the reaction had been “surprising” and she had been thinking about posting for a while but was worried it would be seen as “cheeky”.

She applied online because she always felt Christmas was special and had “always made a fuss.”

Following an operation to remove an 18-inch tumor in 2022, Clare was told a year later that her bowel cancer had spread to her lymph nodes and lungs and developed to stage four.

He has been receiving chemotherapy since then, but said he was told in November that his chemotherapy to help shrink the cancer was no longer responding and that 10 months was the average prognosis for someone in his position.

“But am I average? I’ve never been average,” Clare laughed.

While realistic about her diagnosis, Clare remains hopeful for a “Christmas miracle.”

Sitting in her kitchen surrounded by flowers and handwritten Christmas wishes, Clare said she and her family laughed and cried at the messages left on some of the cards.

“A simple card with a simple message has really made our Christmas one that brings joy to all of us,” he said.

From poems and letters to cards handmade by children, Clare says the messages of shared experiences and positivity have touched them all.

“There’s been a lot to read,” Clare said, adding, “The love has been incredible… genuine love.”

America, Greece, Holland, Spain, Germany, France and New Zealand are just some of the countries Clare has received cards from.

She described the last few months as extremely difficult, as she had to tell her three children Summer, 16, Sami, 22, and Finley, 20, that this Christmas could very well be their last.

“How do you tell them that? My daughter doesn’t believe it.”

The three live at home with Clare, who has raised them independently for the past 10 years, and one of Clare’s biggest worries is leaving them behind.

“Who do they have? I try to think positive, but this is real.

“I remember when my kids were leaving elementary school, I thought it was their last concert in elementary school… you go through the stages of last last.

“But when you talk about yourself, it’s the last time you’ll see Christmas, you know, Halloween is over and you didn’t realize it was your last Halloween, your last Christmas, your last birthday.

“Your mind goes crazy when they tell you ten months.”

After posting on Facebook, Clare said that a few hours later she received three cards from people in the area she had never met before: “It’s been crazy, how nice people can be.”

Clare said she loves receiving cards and likes to keep them, but “she doesn’t get many Christmas cards anymore.”

While older generations sent cards, people now tended to send messages, he said, “which is great, but it’s not exactly the same.”

Now that mail carrier deliveries are an everyday occurrence, Clare has thought about her mail carrier, but said he has been wonderful and very patient.

And despite the hundreds of cards that come through her mailbox every day, Clare plans to thank each person individually.

“I want to respond to everyone, everyone has been very kind,” he said.

Clare is collecting all the stamps to send to a bone cancer charity, while they sell the stamps and return the profits to their charity.

Clare said she was regretting not seeing a doctor sooner as she had symptoms for a long time, but “put it down to having a dodgy abdomen”.

She added: “I don’t feel sick, I feel fine. But I won’t feel that way for much longer.”

“I have many people around me who care about me. If love could cure cancer, I would be cured.”

Clare has several trips planned with her family over Christmas, including a caravan holiday and a day out at the theatre, at the time of year she has always loved.

“I didn’t want to ruin Christmas by being the last one, spending that Christmas angry, but it’s hard not to.

“As much as I love Christmas and we’re going to have a great Christmas… it will still be in the back of my head and in my family’s head that it will be the last Christmas we will have.

“I want to spend the time I have left with the family.”