Aoife died five days after she was diagnosed with a rare cancer - doctors initially said she was just constipated. Photo / Facebook
Aoife died five days after she was diagnosed with a rare cancer - doctors initially said she was just constipated. Photo / Facebook
A 3-year-old girl died in her mother's arms just five days after misdiagnosis turned out to be a rare form of aggressive cancer.
For weeks, doctors told the parents of Aoife Flanagan-Gibbs their daughter was suffering from constipation.
Speaking to Essex Live, her mother Eilish said she had taken her 3-year-old to the doctor 11 times over the space of 3 weeks and knew there was something wrong.
Aoife had been experiencing pain in her stomach starting back early July.
After numerous consultations, doctors told her parents it was constipation but Eilish wasn't convinced.
"She'd been in and out of hospital with different infections and problems but they kept telling us she had common child constipation," she said.
"I raised my concerns and she had pains in other areas of her body but the doctors never examined her. She had a tumour on her bottom but they failed to investigate it."
After doctors finally took the complaint seriously, the discovered Aoife had a huge tumour that blocked her bowels.
But the diagnosis went from bad to worse when doctors revealed the tumour was actually germ cell cancer.
Her mum described Aoife as a wild child. Photo / GofundMe
According to Eilish, doctors tried to blame it on the parents, telling her she wasn't feeding Aoife properly and indicated she needed more exercise.
Doctors were confident the type of cancer could be cured with chemotherapy, but just days later, on July 7, Aoife suddenly died in her mother's arms.
Since her daughter's death, Eilish has started a charity, in a bid to raise awareness about germ cell cancer.
According to the GoFundMe page for the Aoife's Bubbles, the charity is in the process of getting registered.
"Aoife's Mum has decided to set up this charity to raise awareness and educate health care professionals on germ cell cancer, a rare cancer but a very real one," the Go Fund Me says.
"The charity also wants to provide respite and joy for children with cancer and to provide for their families."
