Doctors said at first it was a strained knee

THE dad of a ‘beautiful and caring’ teenager who died from a rare form of bone cancer says no parent can ever prepare themselves for the news their child has the disease.

Katie Thorburn sadly passed away in April 2014 aged 16 following an 18-month battle with osteosarcoma.

The Stockport Grammar School student, who was a keen netball player, began experiencing pains in her knee, yet doctors repeatedly put it down to a strain.

Her dad Andy said: “She was told it was probably just a strain and that she should keep off it for a few weeks. The pain didn’t get any better, so we went back to the GP again and were told the same thing.

“Katie wasn’t happy with what they were telling us, so I went through my private medical insurance and made an appointment to see someone at The Alexandra Hospital in Stockport.

“We went in and were only there about 10 minutes. I took Katie back to school thinking ‘well that was a load of rubbish’, but in the short drive back to school the doctor called me and told me to bring Katie for a scan the following day. We did, and then the day after that he called to say he needed to see us again.

“At this point I should’ve realised something was wrong but it just doesn’t come into your head.

“He told us he wanted Katie to have a biopsy the following week and I sat there thinking ‘what is he trying to tell us?’

“I asked him if he thought it was cancer, and he said yes, and it was like the whole world just stopped.

“You don’t know how to react to that.”

Shortly afterwards Katie was diagnosed with osteosarcoma in her knee and started on a three-month chemotherapy plan in an attempt to shrink the tumour so it could be operated on, but it didn’t work.

Katie’s tumours spread to her lungs, and after an operation to remove one of them the family took what was to be their last trip together to Canada.

Just a few months later, Katie passed away, but her legacy remains and has so far raised almost £80,000 for cancer charities.

Her family are backing September’s Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, and are urging others to get behind the campaign.

“So many families bob along day to day completely oblivious to the world of childhood cancer,” Andy said.

“You’re going along doing day-to-day things then all of a sudden you get thrown into this world you never thought you would be in.”