Charlotte and Isabel died of cancer after doctors dismissed their horrific symptoms because they were ‘too young’ to have cancer. Now his heartbroken parents have made a desperate appeal to raise awareness of the disease in children.

Charlotte Simpson and Isabel McEgan didn’t know each other, but they shared a love of spending time with their friends, family, and dogs, as well as a passion for becoming teachers.

Unfortunately, what the young people shared was that they were shockingly let down by GPs who failed to recognize the signs of a terminal cancer. This is now an increasingly common situation.

Last month The Mail on Sunday revealed the horrifying story of 17-year-old Ruby Fuller, whose signs of blood cancer were missed seven times by six doctors who dismissed them as allergies or insisted they were “in the air”. One even laughed at Ruby’s worried mother’s suggestion that she might have cancer, saying: ‘Not like that in a 17-year-old; he’s too young.’

Charlotte Simpson was 17 when she started showing symptoms of bowel cancer, but when doctors tested her it appeared the disease had spread throughout her body.

In October 2019, Charlotte, a 17-year-old from Hampshire who was studying for her A levels, began experiencing constipation, diarrhoea, and stomach pain.

Despite repeated visits to the GP, he was told there was nothing to worry about. They suggested that he was exhausted even when he started losing weight and vomited. “We would be very worried if you were older,” his doctor said. ‘But you’re only 17.’

Three months later Charlotte was only sent for tests when she saw blood in her stool. Scans revealed advanced bowel cancer that had spread throughout his body.

She died four months later, along with her mother Sarah, father David, younger brother Elliott and boyfriend Scott.

In 2018, Isabel McEgan, from Merseyside, had not yet finished her A-levels when she began complaining of heart palpitations and palpitations at night.

In the following months, Isabel, who started a philosophy course at the University of Liverpool, continued to visit the GP with new symptoms. They said he was just stressed. In February 2019, he lost feeling in his jaw and was once again told not to worry.

Doctors dismissed Isabel McEgan’s symptoms, saying she was just stressed

But while she was on holiday in the US, her face became swollen, and a dentist in Pennsylvania thought wisdom teeth might be to blame. However, while removing it, he noticed that he had a tumor on his jaw.

Scans in the UK revealed Isabel had kidney cancer, which had spread to her liver, adrenal glands, jaw, pelvis and spine. He died in May 2020, less than two weeks before Charlotte Simpson also passed away.

Recalling her daughter’s last words, Isabel’s mother Amanda, 53, said: ‘I said to Isabel, ‘I love you.’ “I love you more,” he said. That was the last thing he said to me.”

Charlotte’s mother Sarah, 50, memorably describes saying goodbye to her daughter in exactly the same way.

While the families will never know for sure, both question whether early detection could have saved the girls. Charlotte and Isabel’s parents have now joined forces to raise awareness of signs of cancer in children.

They are working with the Children’s Cancer and Leukemia Group (CCLG) who have produced a poster that they want to be displayed in all GP surgeries to inform patients, parents and doctors of the warning signs.

‘Early diagnosis is vital,’ says CCLG chief executive Ashley Ball-Gamble. ‘And this can be as simple as accessing the right information at the right time.

‘If we can get this poster in front of them, GPs will have the information they need to make referrals.’

Charlotte Simpson with her mother Sarah

According to the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, the number of children and young people diagnosed with cancer across the UK has increased by more than 15 per cent since the 1990s. Approximately 3,755 people under the age of 25 are now diagnosed with cancer each year; 1,645 of them are under the age of 15.

But NHS research published last year shows opportunities for early detection are being missed. The research showed that in 41 per cent of cases where a child was diagnosed with cancer, their parents took them to the GP at least three times with the same symptoms before they were referred for tests.

Experts say one of the main reasons why GPs miss signs of cancer in children is because the symptoms differ from those seen in adults.

Campaigners say one solution is Jess’s Law; Proposed new legislation that would require GPs to consider the case for urgent review if a patient comes into the operating room three times complaining of the same symptoms. It is named after Jessica Brady, a 27-year-old from Hertfordshire, who died in 2020 after adenocarcinoma, a cancer of the mucus-producing glands that line organs, was diagnosed 20 times by four GPs.

Isabel enjoys a day at Disneyland

But the CCLG charity says it is also crucial to educate GPs about the symptoms of the disease.

That’s why CCLG developed the childhood cancer symptoms poster.

Dr D., a pediatrician at Leicester Royal Infirmary. ‘It can be difficult for GPs to detect cases of childhood cancer because they rarely encounter them,’ says Sharna Shanmugavadivel. ‘Placing the poster in every operating theater could help doctors and patients understand that certain symptoms are important warning signs for cancer and should trigger further investigation or referral.’

In 2021 NHS regulator the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) backed the poster. However, at that time, it did not make a commitment to distribute financing for family physicians’ surgeries.

Isabel’s mother Amanda believes the move will save lives, saying: ‘Many of Izzy’s symptoms should have been a red flag.

‘I also think parents can point to symptoms on a poster and just say, ‘Look!’ ‘This will also help them become advocates for their children.’