Next month marks ten years since the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, an anniversary that her mother describes as 'a horrible marker of time, stolen time.’
Writing a message to her supporters on the Official Find Madeleine Campaign Facebook page, Kate McCann said that she and her family will never accept what happened on the night her little girl vanished.
'Ten years- there's no easy way to say it, describe it, accept it.' she writes. 'I remember when Madeleine first disappeared I couldn’t even begin to consider anything in terms of years. Shawn Hornbeck abducted and kept hidden for over four years, Natascha Kampusch for over eight years. I couldn't go there. And now here we are...Madeleine, our Madeleine- ten years.'
McCann said that while May 3rd will be just 'another day' without their eldest child, the ten year anniversary will sit heavily on the family's hearts and their pain is likely to be made worse by false reports in the media.
"We are bracing ourselves for the next couple of weeks.' Kate writes. 'It's likely to be stressful and painful and more so given the rehashing of old 'stories', misinformation, half-truths and downright lies which will be doing the rounds in the newspapers, social media and 'special edition' TV programmes."
She adds "media appearances are draining and on occasion, unhelpful to the only thing we want, finding Madeleine. They need to have a purpose. We could spend all our time and energy trying to defend ourselves by correcting inaccuracies and lies, but then we would have no strength left to look for Madeleine, look after our other children and to live our life."
McCann has also pleaded with the media to 'have a conscience' and 'bear in mind the effect such unfounded and unwarranted negativity could have on our other children - and of course Madeleine'.
The mum-of-three said that, as they face the 'unwanted milestone' she and her husband Gerry 'will go on, try our hardest, never give up and make the best of the life we have'.
She ended the message by expressing her gratitude to those who have supported her over the decade Madeleine has been missing:
'We consider ourselves immensely fortunate to have received the love, solidarity and support from so many kind and decent people over the last decade. There have been many challenges and low points along the way but the warmth, encouragement and positivity we have experienced from the ‘quiet majority’ has undoubtedly sustained us and maintained our faith in human goodness. And while that is there, there will always be hope.'
