Wife of Love Island villa carpenter is diagnosed with stage four breast cancer – after complaining she was ‘sleeping awkwardly’

A carpenter who helped build the Love Island villa has launched a plea for help after receiving the ‘knee-buckling’ news that his wife has an aggressive form of breast cancer. 

Dave Gawler, 58, affectionately known as ‘Big Dave’ amongst friends, had just returned from the home of Love Island: All Stars in South Africa when he and his partner of two decades Bell, 50, saw their worlds turned upside down. 

The mother-of-three had complained that she was ‘feeling tender’ and sleeping awkwardly at their home in Ashford, Kent, in early December. 

However the couple assumed she had merely an ingrown hair, or perhaps a blocked milk duct, until Bell noticed one winter’s morning that her nipple had momentarily inverted. It was then that she decided a trip to the doctors was necessary.

Business-owner Dave, who also worked on the sets of Spider-Man and The Lord of the Rings, recalls: ‘I had been out in South Africa helping to get the Love Island: All Stars villa ready but I just couldn’t wait to get home and see her.

‘I’d just got back and we’d been reunited but a couple of days later Bell said her breasts were feeling tender. 

‘She had a proper feel around and thought it didn’t feel right, but we didn’t know what it was. Then, there was a point where she was doing her hair and she lifted her arm up and realised that her nipple had inverted. 

‘It was just restricted movement but we thought it was most likely a cyst, or maybe an ingrown hair. Bell said she would go and see a doctor, who recommended a mammogram and then a couple of weeks later she had a biopsy.’

Tests revealed that Bell, described as the ‘light’ of Dave’s world, had a cancerous tumour in her breast which had spread to her bones. 

She was diagnosed with stage four HER2 breast cancer, an aggressive and incurable form of the disease for which chemotherapy would be required. 

The family are now raising money on GoFundMe to navigate the coming months.   

Dave says receiving the news from two Macmillan nurses and a doctor earlier this year was ‘absolutely horrific’ and the ‘longest 40 minutes of his life’. 

‘When we walked in to see the specialist and the Macmillan nurses were in there, I knew it was cancer,’ he painfully recalls. 

‘It was knee-buckling, to be honest. Bell was shaking, in floods of tears. It was a horrific experience and the longest 40 minutes I’ve ever spent wishing something to be over. 

‘We left that day and you’re just numb. We talked about what we were going to do next – first it was telling our children.’  

Dave describes that conversation as one of the most difficult he has ever had. 

He and Bell share two children together, 17-year-old Ronnie and 16-year-old Dixie, while the mother also has a child from a previous relationship. 

Dixie had to sit her mock GCSE exams just days after being delivered the heartbreaking news, while Ronnie is a scholar at high-flying League Two club Bromley. 

‘I was holding back tears, you’re trying to tell them that it’s going to be OK, that if we come together as a team we can try and muddle through,’ Dave says. 

‘We told Dixie that she’s got to carry on, just do the best you can. Ronnie needs to stay competitive and switched on with his football. It was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do. 

‘You just feel powerless as a husband and as a dad. You can’t do anything to change the situation or make anything happen. 

‘Me and Bell have been married for 20 years and when there’s been an issue, I’ll do something about it. But with cancer, you just feel helpless.’

Bell began the first round in a course of chemotherapy which is set to last until mid-July last week, after a blunder from a doctor delayed it starting by a matter of days. She is also set to undergo a mastectomy.   

Although her breast cancer is not curable, it is treatable, and recent advances in research have helped women diagnosed with the disease live longer. 

According to the NHS, more than 25 per cent of women diagnosed with breast cancer will live for five years after their diagnosis. 

Bell, Dave and their family are staying positive. A GoFundMe page which Dave reluctantly allowed a friend to set up has so far racked up more than £1,400 in donations. 

‘I didn’t want to set one up, it felt a bit like begging,’ says Dave. ‘Eventually I said yes, and we’ve been overwhelmed with support. We’ve just got to be optimistic, but it’s hard.’

You can donate to the GoFundMe page dedicated to Bell here.