Kind-hearted public raise £2,000 for Portsmouth widow to give husband '˜funeral he deserves'

Donna Tackas, from Portsmouth, was faced with only being able to have a closed service for her husband Ed before kind-hearted people stepped in.

The 54-year-old said she can now give Ed, 53, a send-off he deserves.

She said she cannot thank people enough and has been left in tears by the fundraising.

'˜I want to thank the people of Portsmouth from the bottom of my heart,' Donna, from Portsea, said.

'˜It has been really tough since Ed passed. 

'˜On Sunday morning I had accepted it was going to be a closed service which even I wasn't allowed to attend. I had tried fundraising before then but got nowhere.

'˜Then on Sunday afternoon, money started to be donated and I couldn't look at the page without crying.

'˜It has been really overwhelming and I am so grateful. It is just amazing for people to be so generous and do this.'

Ed died in hospital on October 10 after battling colon and bowel cancer for six years. He underwent chemotherapy and radiotherapy but was told the cancer had spread and it was terminal.

During his illness, Donna stopped working to be his carer and then went back to work part-time. But seven months ago she had to give up work again to look after him.

She added: '˜I think Ed was in denial about what was happening to him. 

'˜He was in pain although he didn't always show it. Despite knowing what was going to happen, I think he found it difficult to process.

'˜When he died, we thought he had a funeral plan in place but he didn't. He said he wanted to be cremated but that was it.

'˜I couldn't afford one.'

Thanks to the money donated online, Donna has been able to book the funeral for this Thursday at Portchester Crematorium. 

People started donating after she posted on her Facebook page and donations of £20, £30 and even £150 started streaming in. In 24 hours, £2,340 was donated.

'˜I can say goodbye to Ed properly now,' she said.

'˜That is all I ever wanted. Knowing it would have been a closed service was horrible but everyone has been amazing.

'˜It means everything to me.'