Docs Pass Off Toddler's Cancer As A 'Cold'

Docs Pass Off Toddler's Cancer As A 'Cold'

A shocked mother has told how GPs diagnosed her toddler daughter with a 'cold' when she in fact had cancer.

Adelle Wright, 29, took 16-month-old Ruby Tanswell to the GP's surgery THREE times when her appetite diminished and she was struggling for breath after falling ill on holiday in Spain in September.

The worried mum and her partner Lee Tanswell, 23, had been so concerned about little Ruby's health, they had abandoned their holiday five days early.

Over three visits to the surgery, doctors diagnosed a cold and prescribed Ruby with nose drops and antibiotics.

When the toddler showed no signs of improvement, Adelle became so concerned that she took her to the Royal Manchester Children's Hospital, where she was diagnosed with rhabdomyosarcoma - a soft tissue cancer which affects around 60 children a year in the UK.

Adelle told reporters: 'It was such a shock. In a week we'd gone from being told she had a cold to having cancer. I felt like the doctors were fobbing us off.'

Little Ruby had now undergone three operations and chemotherapy, and is due more surgery and possible radiotherapy next month.

Adelle said: "The tumour covers 80-90 per cent of her windpipe. If we hadn't taken Ruby to the hospital, she could have gone to sleep one night and not woken up.'

Adelle, whose cousin is comedian Jason Manford, has since raised £11,000 for the hospital through a sponsored walk.

The family plans to make a formal complaint against their GPs.

The surgery have so far refused to comment.

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