Jessica Brady, whose symptoms were repeatedly dismissed by her GP surgery, died aged 27 from cancer, three weeks after diagnosis by a private doctor.
The Brady family feels the roster of GPs Jessica saw over a period of five months failed to piece together a jigsaw puzzle of symptoms that could have led to an early diagnosis.
Her parents are now campaigning for Jess’s Law, which would require a case to be elevated for review after a patient contacts their GP surgery for the third time.
Following Jessica’s story, Telegraph readers got in touch to voice their support for Jess’s Law, with some sharing their own heartbreaking experiences of late diagnosis or misdiagnosis.
Read on for their stories.
‘My son was told by his GP that he was too young to have cancer’
David Chapman
My son, David, started getting pains in his abdominal area in March 2019. He kept seeing his GP and was actually told by his GP that he was too young to have cancer when he mentioned it.
He was referred to the local hospital who treated him for (amongst other things) kidney stones. He was admitted a few times and always discharged shortly after but the pains continued unabated.
On September 5, he was called to the hospital and told he had bladder cancer, a rare aggressive form called angiosarcoma. Seven months of misdiagnosis later, David was finally treated for cancer at the Royal Marsden but passed away at age 30 in May 2020.
‘The GP did refer us immediately but was then himself not believed’
Sacha Langton-Gilks
Our son, David, DD, died in 2012 of a cancerous brain tumour – the biggest killer disease for children. I didn’t know the symptoms, and later found out he was already at risk of a catastrophic brain haemorrhage by the time I got him to the doctor’s.
The GP did refer us immediately but was then himself not believed, and we and our GP were fobbed off by the local district hospital.
As the lead campaigner for The Brain Tumour Charity’s Headsmart Campaign for symptoms’ awareness for years I’ve listened to families whose children have died because they were ignored by GPs or paediatricians as we were, so I know beyond all doubt Jess’s Law will massively help.
‘No one was held accountable – doctors do not listen to their patients’
Jane Spencer
It’s not just GPs and the NHS. Pre Covid, my husband had three or four in-person appointments with his GP complaining of stomach pain, a feeling of fullness, loss of appetite and weight loss, between February and April. They prescribed indigestion medication, but would not refer him. So, in April, we went private; he had a colonoscopy and was given the all-clear.
In September, we returned for a second investigation due to further weight loss and constant stomach pain, and given the same result. He was told it was down to stress, there was nothing wrong, and he should take a holiday. In November, a tumour the size of a grapefruit in one kidney started to bleed. The kidney was removed, but it was too late. The cancer had metastasised. He died the following year, aged 42.
No one was held accountable. Not the GP, nor the consultant who saw him twice at the private hospital, who ignored the evidence and did not explore further. Doctors do not listen to their patients.
‘My husband was misdiagnosed for over five years’
Joanne Messenger
My husband was diagnosed with acid reflux for over five years, he felt tired all the time – he worked nights. He had a blood test and was told he had vitamin D deficiency and to get more sunshine.
When he started coughing in 2014, he was told to take cough medicine, then given steroids; eventually he was sent for a chest X-ray, followed by an urgent CT. He was diagnosed with stage four stomach and lung cancer in May 2014. He died in my and our son’s arms on June 1 2015.
‘We wept reading Jess’s story as there were so many parallels to our own’
Charles and Antonia Filmer
We have had a very similar tragedy to the Bradys’. Our daughter died aged 30 on June 10 2022, of neuroendocrine cancer. Her diagnosis took over a year and came too late to save her. Her cancer had spread to her liver, lungs and bones.
Like Jess, she was brave and only worried about us, her parents, and how we would manage without her. She was full of energy and was academically gifted.
We have set up a charity fund in Miranda’s memory and have so far raised £430,000. We wept reading Jess’s story as there were so many parallels to our own. Miranda was an only child. We are not angry, we just want to try and avoid this happening to other families.
‘It took us sitting in the GP surgery refusing to leave before we were taken seriously’
Emma Giles
It took three GP visits, being sent home by a junior paediatrician in A&E, a lost ‘urgent’ referral, and us sitting in the GP surgery refusing to leave before we were taken seriously.
Our five-year-old daughter was diagnosed with a brain tumour, and died a year later.
For more details see www.change.org/p/stevebarclay-improve-the-awareness-and-diagnosis-of-cancer-in-young-adults
Sarah Carter is a health and wellness expert residing in the UK. With a background in healthcare, she offers evidence-based advice on fitness, nutrition, and mental well-being, promoting healthier living for readers.
