The mum of a young woman who died following a battle with bowel cancer has said the pain is 'too much to bear', just over a year on from the 24-year-old's death.
Amelia Grace was diagnosed with stage four bowel cancer in December 2020, the Liverpool Echo reports. She underwent chemotherapy but tragically died on October 20, 2021.
Just over a year on, her mum Therese said she 'still doesn't believe' that her daughter is gone. She said she won't be celebrating Christmas this year and will instead spend it helping other people who need support.
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Amelia, from Norris Green in Liverpool, first went to the doctors with her partner in January 2020, to undergo fertility checks in the hope of starting a family together. After a series of scans the results found fluid on her fallopian tubes which she was told she needed keyhole surgery to remove at Liverpool Women's Hospital.
However, the surgery was put on hold at the start of the national lockdown in March 2020. During this time the then 23-year-old started experiencing severe stomach pains and went to see her GP.
She was referred to Broadgreen Hospital for a scan and the results found she had cysts on her ovaries including endometrial cysts. But it wasn't until she had keyhole surgery on December 2, 2020 that doctors discovered she had cancer after taking a biopsy.
On December 23, 2020 at Aintree Hospital, Amelia was told the devastating news that she had stage four bowel cancer which has also spread to her liver. She sadly died the following October.
More than a year on, Therese said: "It's like the front of my brain knows that it's happened, but the inside doesn't. I still don't believe my daughter is gone, it's too much to bear.
"When I sit and think this has actually happened for too long, it becomes too much."
The care worker is determined help raise awareness of bowel cancer in young people, and aims to set up a charity to reach out to younger people- continuing Amelia's legacy, as this was something very important to her. Prior to her death, Amelia told the ECHO: "I don't think people realise what people can go through. I never imagined me getting bowel cancer at 23.
"The amount of people I've had messaging me since I put my story on Facebook asking about symptoms they've had. You don't realise how many young girls are going through stuff, I think a lot of us just put it down to girl problems."
Therese added: "I think Amelia's death was avoidable, she had the symptoms and went to the doctors but lockdowns made it more difficult. People kept saying she was too young to have cancer, but there's no such thing as too young."
Therese is keen for any businesses or charities to help her set up her awareness campaign, whether that is through funding or advice on engaging with young people. You can contact her on tessg72@outlook.com or on Facebook here.
The NHS said symptoms of bowel cancer include one of the following in 90 per cent of cases:
- a persistent change in bowel habit – pooing more often, with looser, runnier poos and sometimes tummy (abdominal) pain
- blood in the poo without other symptoms of piles (haemorrhoids) – this makes it unlikely the cause is haemorrhoids
- abdominal pain, discomfort or bloating always brought on by eating – sometimes resulting in a reduction in the amount of food eaten and weight loss
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