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Thousands of pounds have been raised for a carer with a “heart of gold” who died on her birthday.
Malgorzata Mamczura, known to many as Maggie, was set to celebrate turning 53 years old.
She had worked at Kippington Nursing Home in Grange Road, Sevenoaks for 19 years as a healthcare assistant.
It is understood Maggie came over from Poland on a sponsorship and had lived in Kent ever since.
Donna Coombes, who is a wellbeing co-ordinator at the home, had known her for nine years.
The 42-year-old, from Orpington, says Maggie was “deeply loved” by all of the residents, their families and colleagues.
“When I first met Maggie, she came across a bit frosty,” Donna recalled. “She wasn’t there to make friends and always put the residents first.
“Once you'd been there a little while, she'd do anything for you and had such a heart of gold.
“She would always make you a cup of tea and have a chat or a gossip.
“With residents, she would always take them wherever they wanted and do whatever they wanted. She was such a caring soul.”
On Wednesday, January 15 – her 53rd birthday – Maggie died following a gastrointestinal haemorrhage caused by a stomach ulcer.
She leaves behind her brother Henryk. He works as a kitchen porter at the care home and lived with Maggie at their flat in Sevenoaks.
“She was a strong woman. She really loved the residents and they loved her.”
Bozena Andrzejewska also met Maggie through work. The pair were put on shifts together as they were both Polish.
The 65-year-old said: “She was a strong woman. She really loved the residents and they loved her.
“They were looked after really well. She would talk to them and make them feel calm and comfortable.”
Bozena remembers Maggie talking fondly about her life back in Poland and had opened up about her family.
“She lost her mum around 10 or 11 years ago. They were very close,” she added.
“She always had tears in her eyes when she talked about her.
“They also lost their father at a very young age – I believe she was two years old.”
After Henryk began worrying about covering the funeral costs, Donna and her friends started a GoFundMe.
It was launched on Saturday, January 18 and at the time of writing, it had raised £3,180 – with more than 50 people donating.
If you’d like to contribute to the GoFundMe, please click here.
“We want to give her a nice send-off that she deserves and support Henryk during this difficult time.”
Mum-of-two Donna says she was “blown away” by the response.
She added: “Maggie and Henryk lived and shared their whole lives together so as you can imagine he is now struggling with how he will cope all alone.
“We want to give her a nice send-off that she deserves and support Henryk during this difficult time.
“Maggie's ashes are also going to be flown back to Poland, so we have to sort the documents for that too.”