‘Shannon was such a brave girl, so bright’

HEARTBREAKING tributes have been paid to a 13-year-old girl who died after a two-year battle with cancer.

Shannon Parr was just 11 when she was diagnosed with Ewing Sarcoma – a rare form of cancer affecting the bones.

Two years on, the teenager was still fighting the disease, undergoing chemotherapy and long operations to remove tumours.

While her peers made the exciting move to high school, Shannon was too weak to attend. She underwent a bout of chemotherapy in April and was looking forward to spending time with her family over Easter weekend, said her devastated mother, Natalie Parr. But Shannon appeared to get weaker until she had to be rushed to hospital on Easter Sunday, Mrs Parr said.

Shannon was admitted to the Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital, where it was found she had neutropenic sepsis, which makes the body less able to fight off infections.

Tragically, Shannon’s condition worsened overnight and in the early hours of April 13, she died in hospital.

At an inquest opened into her death at Bolton Coroners Court, the preliminary cause of death was given as E. Coli sepsis. Assistant coroner for Manchester West, Steven Teasdale, said ‘there appears to have been no suspicious circumstances or third party involvement surrounding the death.’ Shannon’s parents, Natalie and Wayne, paid tribute to their daughter. Mum-of-five Mrs Parr told the M.E.N: “Shannon was such a brave girl. She was so clever, so bright. We have joked that she was the cleverest in the family. She was very grown up for her age, she always asked a lot of questions. Shannon was very artistic, she loved make-up. But she wanted to become a vet. She loved animals – probably more than humans!

“Shannon suffered with anxiety and at times, her health was really getting her down – many a time she said she’d had enough. But we always told her that we had to keep going.

“She was all about her family, she never worried about herself, only us. Yes, she struggled, but for the most part she did not let it get her down.”

The case is to be reviewed by the coroner on July 3, after which a date for a full inquest will be set.