A MUM’s killer cancer was missed for months during the Covid crisis.
Kimberley Eccles then learned via a video call that she may have just six months to live.
She had three vital appointments cancelled at the start of lockdown. Kimberley, 23, spent six months in agony as a tumour grew in her left cheek before being rushed to hospital when she collapsed at work.
Doctors finally confirmed her worst fears during a Zoom video call — leaving her in tears in front of her seven-year-old daughter.
A cancer specialist advised her to draw up a bucket list and “make memories” with daughter Maya.
Kimberley, a children’s home carer told Trending In The News yesterday: “My heart is broken — I’m only 23 with a beautiful daughter who needs me. But I have been given a one per cent chance of survival and told I have around six months to live.
“I’m trying to be brave so as not to upset Maya but I just can’t stand the thought of leaving her and never seeing her grow up. I had my daughter at home when I took the video call and was so shocked I couldn’t speak.
“I can’t help thinking how different it might have been if there had been no pandemic and my cancer had been diagnosed earlier. There must be many other cancer patients in the same position as me now.”
‘Tragic case’
Kimberley, who lives with bricklayer Darren Aldred, 24, and Maya in Leyland, Lancs, has Rhabdomyosarcoma, a highly aggressive cancer which is extremely rare in adults.
She thought it was a mouth ulcer when it first appeared in June last year and it was later wrongly diagnosed as a blocked saliva gland.
But by February it had grown into a painful tennis ball-sized tumour and she was booked in for a consultation, biopsy and MRI scan.
Her appointments clashed with the start of lockdown and were axed.
Kimberley was rushed to the Royal Preston Hospital in August.
A biopsy failed to detect the malignant cells. But a second confirmed cancer. She then lost her hair after three bouts of failed chemotherapy.
Kimberley is set for a 12-hour operation on Monday at the Wirral’s Clatterbridge Cancer Centre to have the tumour removed, along with her entire left cheek and jawbone. Surgeons hope to rebuild her face using bone and tissue from her back.
She has raised £12,000 towards the £50,000 cost of treatment in the US. A spokeswoman for Lancashire Teaching Hospitals said: “This is a very complex and tragic case and Kimberley and her family have our sincere sympathy. We would strongly encourage her to get in touch so we can explore exactly what happened.
“Despite the pandemic, cancer treatment and diagnostics have remained a priority with appointments cancelled only if absolutely necessary.
“If any one has any concerns they should get in touch with their local hospital.”
- TO help Kimberley, donate at gofundme.com/f/26j55ul19c
