Charlotte Simpson and Isabel McEgan did not know each other, but shared a love of spending time with their friends, their families and their dogs, as well as an ambition to become teachers.
Sadly, however, what the teenagers also share is the shocking way they were let down by GPs who failed to spot they had the symptoms of a deadly cancer. It is a situation that is becoming all too common.
Last month The Mail on Sunday revealed the appalling story of 17-year-old Ruby Fuller, whose symptoms of blood cancer were missed seven times by six doctors, who dismissed them as allergies or insisted she was ‘under the weather’. One even laughed off a suggestion by Ruby’s worried mother that it could be cancer, saying: ‘Not in a 17-year-old – she’s far too young.’
Charlotte Simpson was 17 when she started having symptoms of bowel cancer, but by the time doctors tested her, it had spread throughout her body
In October 2019, Charlotte, from Hampshire, who was 17 and studying for her A-levels, began experiencing constipation, diarrhoea and stomach pain.
Despite repeated trips to the GP, she was told there was nothing to worry about. Even when she began to lose weight and was vomiting, they suggested she was simply run down. ‘If you were older, we’d be extremely worried,’ her GP said. ‘But you’re only 17.’
It was only when Charlotte spotted blood in her stool, three months later, that she was sent for tests. Scans revealed advanced bowel cancer which had spread throughout her body.
Four months later, she died, with her mother Sarah, father David, younger brother Elliott and boyfriend Scott at her side.
In 2018, Isabel McEgan, from Merseyside, had not long finished her A-levels when she began complaining of a racing heart and palpitations at night.
Over the following months, having started a philosophy course at the University of Liverpool, Isabel kept visiting the GP with new symptoms. They said she was just stressed. In February 2019 she lost feeling in her chin, and was again told not to worry.
Isabel McEgan had her symptoms dismissed by doctors, who said she was just stressed
But while in the US on holiday, her face swelled up and a Pennsylvania dentist thought a wisdom tooth could be to blame. However, as he was removing it, he noticed a tumour in her jaw.
Back in the UK, scans revealed that Isabel had kidney cancer which had spread into her liver, adrenal glands, jaw, pelvis and spine. She died in May 2020 – less than two weeks before Charlotte Simpson also passed away.
Remembering her daughter’s last words, Isabel’s mother Amanda, 53, said: ‘I told Isabel, “I love you.” She said, “Love you more”. That was the last thing she said to me.’
Hauntingly, Charlotte’s mother Sarah, 50, recounts saying goodbye to her daughter with exactly the same exchange.
While the families will never know for certain, both question whether an earlier diagnosis could have saved the girls. So Charlotte and Isabel’s parents have now joined forces in a bid to raise awareness of the symptoms of cancer in children.
They are working with The Children’s Cancer And Leukaemia Group (CCLG), which has created a poster, which they want displayed in all GP surgeries, to inform patients, parents and doctors about the warning signs.
‘Early diagnosis is vital,’ says CCLG chief executive Ashley Ball-Gamble. ‘And it could be as simple as accessing the right information at the right time.
‘If we can get this poster in front of them, GPs should have the information they need to make referrals.’
Charlotte Simpson with her mother Sarah
Across the UK, the number of children and young people diagnosed with cancer have risen more than 15 per cent since the 1990s, according to the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health. About 3,755 under-25s are now diagnosed with cancer each year, including 1,645 under 15.
Yet NHS research published last year suggests that opportunities for early diagnosis are being missed. It showed that in 41 per cent of cases where a child was diagnosed with cancer, their families had taken them to GPs at least three times with the same symptoms before they were referred for tests.
Experts say one of the main reasons GPs miss signs of cancer in children is that the symptoms differ to those seen in adults.
Campaigners say one solution is Jess’s Law – proposed new legislation requiring GPs to elevate a case to an urgent review if a patient comes to the surgery three times complaining about the same symptoms. It is named after Jessica Brady, 27, from Hertfordshire, who died in 2020 after adenocarcinoma – a cancer in the mucus-producing glands lining the organs – was missed 20 times by four GPs.
Isabel enjoying a day out at Disneyland
But the CCLG charity says it is also crucial to educate GPs about the signs of the disease.
It’s for this reason that the CCLG has developed its child cancer symptom poster.
‘It can be hard for GPs to spot cases of childhood cancer because they encounter them rarely,’ says Dr Sharna Shanmugavadivel, a paediatrician at Leicester Royal Infirmary. ‘Putting the poster in every surgery might help doctors and patients recognise that certain symptoms are key warning signs for cancer and should trigger further investigation or referral.’
In 2021, the NHS regulator, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), gave its backing to the poster. However, at the time it did not commit to funding distribution to GP surgeries.
Isabel’s mother Amanda believes the move would save lives, saying: ‘Many of Izzy’s symptoms should have been red flags.
‘It would also help parents be advocates for their children, if they could point at symptoms on a poster and just say, “Look!”‘
