Toy Boy Number 9 For Gran Pat

By Ryan Pilot

A serial bride grandmother is to wed toy boy number nine.

Pat Higgins has never married a man older than her, and her ninth husband will be 32 years her junior.

Fiance Mark Sanderson, 24, proposed to Pat in September last year.

Despite Mark's family unhappy with the engagement - and taunts of "maneater" and "black widow" - the 56-year-old is unrepentant about her career of short-lived marriages.

She said: "People call me a maneater and a black widow which is silly.

"I'm not a predator, I just like to be happy in life - what's wrong with that?

"I want to be with someone who treats me like I should be treated.

"Most of my family are very supportive of me, although Mark's family are not happy."

And despite the longest lasting five years and the shortest just five days -Pat insists this marriage will be forever.

She said: "I'm an eternal optimist and have thought every marriage was going to work.

"But this time I know it's going to last. People might say he is too young but age has got nothing to do with love."

Pat, of Longbenton, North Tyneside, first got hitched to Michael Kelly in 1974 but the marriage lasted only three years.

Some marriages ended with accusations of infidelity but in some cases Pat and her husband simply drifted apart.

It earned her a reputation as a maneater and as all of her grooms were younger than her she gained the cruel nickname of The Black Widow - named after the spider who eats her lovers.

But Pat pays no attention to the taunts. She said: "Younger men are more fun than men my age which suits me because I want to enjoy myself until I draw my last breath.

"I'm young at heart so young men suit me better.

"I haven't done anything wrong - I haven't killed anyone or done anything illegal.

"People get divorced all the time so I don't know how people can judge me.

JOY AT LAST FOR MUM

ABOVE: Pamela Mude finally has her own bundle of joy, named Aaron

Pamela Mudie suffered five miscarriages, one on Christmas Day and another on her birthday

6th January 2011

By Ryan Pilot

A Miracle mum finally cradles a son after 12 years of baby torment.

Pamela Mudie suffered five miscarriages, one on Christmas Day and another on her birthday.

She was heartbroken when none of her pregnancies lasted longer than 13 weeks, a tragedy that baffled doctors who could not find anything wrong with her.

But now at the age of 44, Pamela finally has her own bundle of joy, named Aaron. She said: “The doctors couldn’t find any reason for the miscarriages. But with Aaron, for some reason, from day one he was totally strong.

“There was nobody more shocked than me the day I found out I was pregnant and my initial reaction was: ‘Oh great, I’m going to lose it again.’

“I even worked out on the calendar when I would lose him and thought it might happen at Christmas, like it did in 2001.

“I was in total denial. I didn’t want to invest emotion in him and I was prepared for the worst. Every time we went for a scan I would get totally euphoric then have to calm myself.”

And Pamela, who lives with husband Stephen in Wideopen, Tyne and Wear, says her workmates at St Oswald’s Hospice in Gosforth, Newcastle, were as delighted as she was.

She said: “They were crying with happiness. He is very much a baby of hope. He’s our little miracle baby.”

Rail Crash Couple To Marry

By Ryan Pilot

THE hero of the Grayrigg rail crash is to marry the girlfriend who helped him prevent more lives being lost.

Driver Iain Black, 50, was left with a broken neck after his Virgin train left the track at Grayrigg, Cumbria, in 2007, killing one and injuring 22.

In great pain, his first thought was to call train manager Janice Duff, 32, to prevent other trains hitting the wreckage. He said: “My first priority was to get other trains stopped.”

The couple say the crash, which was blamed on faulty points, has brought them closer together.

Now they plan to marry next summer before going by train to the Costa del Sol for their honeymoon.