Bravery of girl who died of bowel cancer aged 18
She was diagnosed 2 weeks before birthday... and gone 4 months later
TEENAGER Charlotte Simpson had her whole life ahead of her with dreams of going to university and becoming a teacher.
But, with her 18th birthday celebrations just a fortnight away, she was given the devastating news that she had advanced bowel cancer.
Only four months later, Charlotte passed away at home surrounded by her family, becoming one of the disease’s youngest victims.
Her mother Sarah, 46, said: ‘Just four months after being told she had the cancer, she was gone. How could it happen to someone so healthy and young?
‘I always thought age was on our side but it wasn’t. Doctors told us that the fact her cells were still so young meant the cancer could divide quicker.’
She told of the moment in January when she learnt the result of hospital tests which revealed how ill Charlotte was.
‘I knew from the looks on their faces that the news wasn’t going to be good as they went ghostly white,’ said Mrs Simpson, of Whiteley, Hampshire. ‘They said there was a very high chance Charlotte had cancer, to which she replied, “Don’t be silly, I’m only 17”.’
Five days later, after MRI and CT scans, doctors confirmed she had stage four bowel cancer which had spread to her stomach and lymph nodes.
‘I can still see Charlotte’s face,’ said her mother. ‘She went bright red. She knew then it was serious.’
Despite the horrifying news, Charlotte bravely continued with plans to mark her 18th birthday two weeks later, celebrating with a family dinner and a sleepover party with friends.
The next day her chemotherapy and immunotherapy began, administered at Southampton General Hospital and at home. But by mid-March she was in agony and unable to keep any food down.
Surgeons performed a colostomy, bypassing part of her colon, but Charlotte never recovered. A CT scan in April showed the cancer had spread extensively, leaving her only weeks to live.
She stayed in hospital, with her mother by her side day and night.
Lockdown meant no- one else could see her and at the start of May her parents decided to take her home. Charlotte died on May 22 and was buried in June.
Mrs Simpson, a former civil servant, said: ‘I want everyone to know how loved she was and for people to realise that this disease, while rare, can strike in young people too. I don’t want to see other families grieving like us.’
The ordeal for Mrs Simpson, her company director husband David, 48, and son Elliott, 15, began last October when Charlotte had an extreme stomach upset.
A blood test revealed the A-level pupil was anaemic and she was prescribed iron tablets.
But Charlotte, who was dating fellow pupil Scott Dickinson, 19, lost weight and felt exhausted all the time. She was so weak she would go straight to bed after coming home from college.
By December there was blood in her stools and Charlotte went twice to Queen Alexandra Hospital, Portsmouth, for suspected Crohn’s disease or a bowel infection. Then a colonoscopy on January 16 led to her diagnosis.
More than 2,500 people under 50 are diagnosed with the disease each year in the UK with just three aged 15-19 on average, according to charity Bowel Cancer UK.