A young woman died from bone cancer after doctors initially misdiagnosed back pain caused by the disease as “probable sciatica”. Kate Drummond was found to have a grapefruit-sized tumour in her pelvis after seeking an MRI scan privately. The athletic 25-year-old was “fit and healthy” when she began to experience bad back pain in 2020.

She first put this down to “poor posture” or working out too much, according to her 33-year-old sister Kelly Drummond. After the pain radiated to her hip, Kate visited A&E at her local hospital in Devon where she was diagnosed with “probable sciatica” in May 2021. The common condition occurs when the sciatic nerve, which runs down from the lower back, is irritated or compressed.

Kelly said it was noted that Kate was “one of the youngest patients [doctors] had ever seen” with the condition.

During the months that followed, Kate’s pain worsened and her mobility began to decline. Eventually, a spinal physiotherapist became concerned with her symptoms and Kate opted to have the private scan.

On July 7, 2021, she was informed the scan had revealed a large tumour in her pelvic region with numerous deposits on her spine.

After having a biopsy at Birmingham Hospital, Kate was diagnosed with Ewing sarcoma, a rare cancer that can start in the bones or soft tissue, on August 3, 2021.

Kelly said: “The news was life-altering, mainly for Kate, but also for her friends and family,” Kelly said.

“I felt shock and disbelief, but also a bit of guilt as well as you think ‘could I have done more to push her to seek help sooner?’

“It all felt really unreal and it shouldn’t happen to someone so young, especially someone so fit and healthy.”

When she finally received the correct diagnosis, Kate underwent treatment for several months including radiotherapy and chemotherapy.

But her condition deteriorated rapidly in January 2022 as the disease spread to “almost every part of her body”, including her lungs, liver and other bones. Her liver and kidneys started to shut down.

Kelly said: “It just all changed from there, it was a rapid downward spiral that kind of came out of nowhere.”

Kate died in March 2022 in hospital. Kelly is sharing her story for the first time to urge others to “listen to your body” and “advocate for yourself”.

Kelly, a personal trainer from Devon, said: “We’d be silly to not assume that things could have been slightly different had she been diagnosed sooner.

“When Kate’s tumour was found it was large, they described it as grapefruit-sized and it was suggested she may have had cancer in her body for up to two years.

“What started as some lower back pain turned into cancer within a matter of days, which then turned into multiple cancerous tumours in almost every part of her body – the rapid progression was shocking.

“Kate’s story shows just how unpredictable cancer is and clearly, early diagnosis has been shown time and time again to save lives.”

April marks Teenage and Young Adult Cancer Awareness Month for the Bone Cancer Research Trust, the UK’s leading charity for primary bone cancer.