A mom from England was initially told she had “nothing to worry about” — but was later diagnosed with terminal cancer.
Katie Pritchard, 37, from England, was initially told by doctors that her symptoms could be due to the COVID-19 vaccine and was misdiagnosed twice before she learned that she had cervical cancer, South West News Service reports.
At first, doctors said the lump she found was not of concern, and even suggested that she could have a prolapsed bladder from having children or even an STI, despite being with her partner for 17 years.
“When I first went to the doctors with my symptoms, I knew something wasn’t right,” Pritchard told SWNS in February.
“I had to really push for the nurse practitioner to examine me for the second time in my appointment and she told me there was nothing to worry about,” she explained at the time.
Pritchard was finally diagnosed with the illness in January 2022 by her gynecologist, and passed away on June 17 surrounded by friends and family, according to SWNS.
“The space she has left is irreplaceable and the pain of losing my best friend and mother to my two boys at 37 is indescribable,” Pritchard’s husband, Tom Cronin, 35, wrote in an update on a GoFundMe page that they had set up for her care.
After Pritchard’s initial diagnosis, she was forced to wait three months to begin treatment.
In April 2022, after completing five weeks of tiresome and challenging radiotherapy, chemotherapy and brachytherapy, she was told that it was a success in June 2022.
She was able to go to a friend’s wedding during that time, and even returned to playing rugby.
However, she received bad news in December when getting further scans, revealing that her cancer had spread and become terminal.
Her family even crowdfunded over $25,000 for her to take a private treatment drug called Pembro that was told could be “her only hope” — but the day she was supposed to start on the drug, they got a call from the consultant telling them that the company had pulled the medication and she would not be able to start on them.
This past May, they decided to move Pritchard into hospice.
Cronin noted that the hospice team that took care of Pritchard was still able to give her a good end of life experience, allowing visitors, trips to the pub and walks in the park.
Throughout her illness, Pritchard tried to remain positive, and even got married to her longtime boyfriend, who popped the question on the day when she found out her illness was terminal.
The two tied the knot in March, a day that Pritchard described as “perfect.”
“It was perfect and very fun with lots of laughter and silliness,” she previously said, according to SWNS.
“I felt really good all day and we all totally forgot about my cancer.”
Before her death, Pritchard urged others about the importance of living life to the fullest.
“I want to tell people how important it is to live your life and to go on lots of adventures,” Pritchard previously told SWNS.
“Turn off Netflix and go outside and enjoy yourself. You need to live for now and not for the future.