Cancer killed my fit and healthy sister, 26, just ten months after she was diagnosed – her only symptom was terrifyingly easy to dismiss

A grief-stricken sister has told of doctors’ multiple failings to spot the bone cancer  that killed her ‘kind, considerate and warm’ sister at just 26-years-old. 

When Kate Drummond, a ‘fit and healthy’ customer care worker, first started feeling lower back pain in the summer of 2020, aged 25, she put it down to poor posture and working out too much. 

After the discomfort radiated to her hip, in May 2021 she visited A&E at her local hospital in Devon and was diagnosed with ‘probable sciatica’. 

The common problem, related to the nerves that run from the lower back into the legs, affects millions—although medics said Kate was ‘young’ to suffer it.  

But just three months later, doctors discovered the true cause: a ‘grapefruit sized’ tumour in her pelvis. 

Kate underwent treatment for several months but deteriorated ‘rapidly’ in January 2022 as the disease quickly spread to almost every part of her body’, including her lungs, liver and other bones.

Tragically, she died in March that year, in hospital. Her sister Kelly is sharing her story for the first time to urge others to ‘listen to your body’ and ‘advocate for yourself’.

The personal trainer from Devon said: ‘We’d be silly to not assume that things could have been slightly different had she been diagnosed sooner. 

Kelly continued: ‘When Kate’s tumour was found it was large, they described it as grapefruit-sized and it was suggested she may have had cancer in her body for up to two years.

‘What started as some lower back pain turned into cancer within a matter of days, which then turned into multiple cancerous tumours in almost every part of her body— the rapid progression was shocking.

‘Kate’s story shows just how unpredictable cancer is and clearly, early diagnosis has been shown time and time again to save lives.’

Kelly recalled how her sister first noticed something ‘wasn’t quite right’ in the late summer of 2020 when she developed ‘intermittent’ lower back pain.

‘Kate put this down to working from home, it was the Covid pandemic, and she thought this was due to poor posture or a slightly uncomfortable working set-up,’ Kelly said.

‘By January 2021, the pain was more persistent and she had some new pain radiating into her hip as well.’

Kelly said Kate thought the new pains could be because of changes in her workout routine and potentially ‘over-training’.

By April that year, however, the symptoms worsened and her hip was ‘warm to touch’ and showed ‘slight swelling’.

Kelly said Kate started to seek help from her GP, who prescribed painkillers. 

When the pain continued, in May 2021, a blood test revealed an indicator for inflammation in the body was ‘considerably elevated’.

Kate was sent to A&E at a local hospital on May 27, 2021, where further blood tests and an X-ray were carried out. 

She was told the likely cause was sciatica.

‘They noted she was one of the youngest patients they had ever seen with this condition, particularly that extreme,’ Kelly said.

She added during this time Kate’s pain was becoming more severe, she was ‘struggling with everything’ and her mobility began to decline.

A spinal physiotherapist became concerned with her symptoms, Kelly said, and Kate decided to pay privately for an MRI scan.

Less than two months later, On July 7 2021, Kate was informed the scan had revealed a large tumour in her pelvic region, and smaller tumours on her spine.

 

After having a biopsy at Birmingham Hospital, Kate was diagnosed with Ewing sarcoma, a rare cancer that can start in the bones or soft tissue, on August 3 2021.

Kelly recalls how ‘in a matter of weeks’ the disease spread to Kate’s lungs, liver, skull, jaw and other bones in her body.

‘The news was life-altering, mainly for Kate, but also for her friends and family,’ she added.

‘I felt shock and disbelief, but also a bit of guilt as well as you think: “Could I have done more to push her to seek help sooner?”

‘It all felt really unreal and it shouldn’t happen to someone so young, especially someone so fit and healthy.’

Kate was given radiotherapy and chemotherapy for several months and initially, the treatment appeared to be working.

‘She remained so strong and so positive the whole time, it was beyond us and we will never understand it,’ Kelly said.

However Kate’s health ‘rapidly declined’ from January 2022 as her liver and kidneys started to shut down.

‘It just all changed from there, it was a rapid downward spiral that kind of came out of nowhere,’ Kelly said.

Kate died on March 17 2022. Kelly said she and her family members are still struggling to come to terms with their loss.

‘Kate was never meant to die, it was an aggressive cancer but she was never given a terminal diagnosis until the last few weeks,’ she said.

‘It just shows how very, very suddenly things can change.’

Kelly said Kate’s message would be to ‘listen to your body’ and ‘advocate for yourself’.

‘She would also want to encourage people to make the most of your life that you’re lucky to have,’ Kelly added.

‘Don’t wait, and laugh more, I think she would say.

‘Kate was the most kind and considerate person and people were just generally drawn to her, she was really warm.

‘She had really good wit and she was just hilarious—she had this amazingly infectious laugh.

‘We all say her laugh is what we miss most about her,’ Kelly said.