Doctors miss mum’s deadly cancer amid lockdown

A woman who had three vital appointments cancelled after discovering a mouth ulcer was told she may have just a few months to live.

Kimberley Eccles, 23, of the UK, had several vital appointments scheduled after she spotted a lump inside her mouth.

But due to COVID-19 they were all cancelled.

Nearly six months on, a Zoom call with her specialist revealed the young mum had a rare – and potentially terminal – cancer.

The aggressive tissue disease called rhabdomyosarcoma is most often found in children and is only found in 1 per cent of the adult population.

During the call with her doctor in August, the 23-year-old was told the cancer diagnosis meant she might only have six months to live.

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Kimberley Eccles, 23, of the UK, was diagnosed with rhabdomyosarcoma, a rare tissue cancer. Picture: Supplied

Kimberley, 23, with her partner Darren Aldred, 24, and daughter Maya, 7. Picture: GoFundMe

“My tumour was/is aggressive and once spread will be completely incurable,” Ms Eccles wrote on her fundraising page to help get money to send her to the US for alternate treatments.

“The doctor described this as a ticking bomb and once it goes off there isn’t any going back.”

Ms Eccles, of Leyland, Lancashire, said she was told by her doctors that she should “make memories” with her seven-year-old daughter Maya and bricklayer partner Darren Aldred, 24, and draw up a bucket list.

“But I can’t stop at this, I can’t just accept that I have less than 50 per cent chance at living,” she wrote on the GoFundMe page.

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The rare cancer affected just 1 per cent of the world’s adult population. Picture: AndyKelvin / Kelvin Media

“I don’t want to write a bucket list, I want to be around to watch my girl grow up, marry the man of my dreams and live a healthy life,” she said.

“After doing hours, days, weeks of research I have found alternative treatments.”

The young mum intends to keep fighting and is raising money to travel to the US to be treated at a comprehensive cancer centre in Houston, Texas.

“It’s also my lifeline. I may be clutching at straws trying to raise this money but I will try anything to save my life.”

Ms Eccles, a care worker, found the ulcer-type lump in the inside of her mouth last April, and originally thought nothing of it.

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Kimberley had received news of her shock diagnosis in a Zoom call with her doctor. Picture: Facebook

But when it grew she was booked in for a consultation, biopsy and MRI scan earlier this year. However, due to the pandemic and lockdown in the UK, her appointments were all cancelled.

She then spent the next six months in agony until it was revealed the ulcer was the life-threatening tumour.

“I was a normal typical mum, working full-time as a carer, taking care of family life at home and suddenly everything just completely changed for me and my family,” she said.

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The family is now raising money to send Kimberley to the US for treatment that is unavailable in the UK. Picture: Facebook

Ms Eccles is due to undergo a 12-hour operation 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.

Once she has recovered, she hopes to travel to America for further treatments not available in the UK.

So far the mum has raised almost $A40,000.