Widow takes cardboard cutout of dead husband on round-the-world trip

A widow is travelling the world with a cardboard cutout of her late husband to honour her promise they would make the trip together.

Michelle Bourke, 58, ordered a life-size image of Paul Bourke – based on a photograph of their wedding day nearly 30 years ago – following his death from cancer aged 61 in 2016.

She has already taken the print, which can be folded up to fit in her bag, to New York, Thailand, the Eiffel Tower, Buckingham Palace and Stonehenge.

For her next leg of the journey she is planning to use another cutout of Paul aged in his 50s.

Ms Bourke, from Melbourne, Australia, said she came up with an idea following a conversation with her husband shortly before his death.

“Paul asked ‘what are you going to do when I’m gone?’ she said.

“I said: ‘I’m going to travel – I’ll pack a photo of you in my suitcase and take photos of us in all the different countries’.”

Ms Bourke added: “Twelve months after Paul died I went on a tour with Cardboard Paul from LA to Las Vegas and San Francisco.

“Then we flew to Houston and later visited Paris, London, Edinburgh, Wales, Dublin and Somerset.

“Stonehenge was an amazing experience because I really wanted to go there.

“It was silent but windy and I had to stop Paul from blowing away. I felt at home.

“The Grand Canyon was spectacular – the energy there was lovely, peaceful and calm.

“Paris was amazing because Paul and I always wanted to see the Eiffel Tower. When I saw it I cried, it was beautiful.

“En route back to Australia I visited Singapore to relax.”

Ms Bourke has two children with Paul – Sarah, 24, and Matthew, 26 – and is step-mum to sons Brendan, 36, and Garry, 38, from his previous marriage.

They first became friends at work before developing a romantic relationship when their respective marriages broke down.

“Paul was family oriented, my best friend and soulmate,” she said. “We were comfortable around each other and enjoyed going for breakfast every Sunday.

“Paul was fun, quirky and had a weird sense of humour. He talked more than the average man and would follow me around the house telling the same stories over and over again.

“He liked dad jokes around the dinner table and was easy-going.”

In 2008 Mr Bourke was diagnosed with melanoma, a type of skin cancer which affects one in 14 men and one in 24 women in Australia, after he discovered a large rash on his neck.

The truck driver went into remission but in 2010 a lump formed in his neck which turned out to be non-Hodgkin’s Lyphoma.

Doctors said the diagnosis was unrelated to his earlier cancer and the tumour was removed.

Mr Bourke underwent radiotherapy but was diagnosed with melanoma again in 2014 after it spread to his spine and brain.

Following his death on 20 May 2016, Ms Bourke wrote a book about his final years titled Conversations With Paul.

Her second book, Travelling With Cardboard Paul, will be released on Saturday and later this year she plans to return to the UK with a new version of her husband.

“The Paul I’ve been travelling with is pictured on our wedding day aged 34 – but it’s falling to pieces,” said Ms Bourke, who works for a dementia charity.

“I will be replacing my regular Cardboard Paul with a new one for the next trip.”

SWNS