A teenager died from cancer two days after her 19th birthday after her 10lb (4.5kg) tumour was dismissed as being 'hormonal problems'.
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tumour → die → birthday
Liberty York was told it was 'highly unlikely' she had cancer after her symptoms were repeatedly mistaken as something else, including mastitis and an abscess.
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symptoms → tell → mastitis
She was forced to endure months of appointments before doctors finally discovered she had angiosarcoma, an aggressive soft-tissue cancer and a 10lb tumour in her chest.
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she → force → chest
By then, the cancer had already spread to her lymph nodes but there were no available beds for her to have treatment at a specialist hospital.
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her → spread → hospital
Despite later undergoing surgery and chemotherapy, Liberty died at home in the early hours of June 1 last year.
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Liberty → undergo → June
Now her devastated mother Hannah York, 41, says her daughter wasn't given a 'fighting chance' as a new campaign launches to stop young cancer patients slipping through the net.
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patients → say → net
Ms York, of Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, said: 'I'm not a medical expert but it just baffles me how they can have something so huge and don't rule out the most serious thing.
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they → say → thing
I think the thing for me is that I always feel some guilt for trusting, for not pushing more.
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I → think → more
Liberty York's mother says her daughter wasn't given a 'fighting chance' after it took three months to diagnose the teenager
Liberty pictured at home with her rabbit Snuggle, a few weeks before she passed away
'When your child takes a long time to be diagnosed, I think there will always be a part of you that wonders, 'Why didn't I keep pushing?'
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I → say → you
Throughout Liberty's cancer journey, there often didn't feel like much hope - her cancer was rare, underfunded and under-researched.'
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cancer → feel → hope
Liberty first felt unwell in May 2024 after developing fatigue and nausea, followed by unexplained breast symptoms.
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Liberty → feel → symptoms
A year earlier she had been diagnosed with Addison's disease, a rare autoimmune condition, so at first the family thought it was possible the two could be linked.
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two → diagnose → disease
Her mother said: 'The GP suspected it might be hormonal and wanted further investigation, so we had to wait for an appointment.
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we → say → appointment
But when her left breast began to swell, they went back to the GP who 'thought it was mastitis because it was red as well and painful', Ms York said.
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York → begin → GP
Antibiotics were prescribed but they failed to work and doctors initially thought she had an abscess.
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she → prescribe → abscess
Liberty's symptoms were repeatedly mistaken as something else, including mastitis and an abscess
Liberty, pictured aged ten and aged 16 on the night of her prom, started palliative chemotherapy but the cancer spread again in May 2025 after a lump appeared near her scar
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lump → mistake → scar
Ms York added: 'They said it was highly unlikely to be cancer.
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it → add → ?
It was only on August 21, 2024 – three months after symptoms began – that a biopsy finally revealed the truth.
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biopsy → begin → truth
With no beds available, Liberty was sent home in agony, unable to walk more than 10m (33ft), with her breast swollen to ten times the normal size.
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breast → send → size
'She was in unbearable pain,' Ms York said.
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York → say → pain
'We hadn't been given any medication.
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We → give → medication
As a mother I felt so helpless.'
After a trip to A&E, Liberty finally got a bed and underwent surgery on September 10.
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Liberty → get → September
Surgeons removed the tumour along with her breast, surrounding tissue down to the ribcage, and all lymph nodes in her left armpit.
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Surgeons → remove → armpit
Liberty caught pneumonia in hospital, developed blood clots, and by November was told the cancer was now incurable after spreading to her left lung.
She started palliative chemotherapy but the cancer spread again in May 2025 after a new lump appeared near her surgical scar.
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lump → catch → scar
Liberty made the heartbreaking decision to stop all treatment and went home for end-of-life care.
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Liberty → make → care
Liberty was 'an incredibly strong person with a very strong sense of right and wrong', her mother said
Liberty, seen here cuddling her brother Max, was told it was 'highly unlikely' she had cancer
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she → say → cancer
Her mother said: 'The only time she asked me 'why' was when she knew she was leaving hospital to come home to die.
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she → say → hospital
This was something I couldn't answer, because it didn't make sense.
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it → answer → sense
'Liberty passed away in the early hours of 1st June, peacefully in her sleep at home.'
She is supporting the Child Cancer Smart campaign, led by CCLG: The Children & Young People's Cancer Association, as it launches new guidelines for healthcare professionals, aimed at improving recognition of soft tissue sarcomas in children and young people.
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it → pass → children
These cancers account for about 7 per cent of childhood cancers, according to the charity, but experts say diagnosis can often be delayed because symptoms resemble more common conditions.
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symptoms → account → conditions
Ms York said: 'I don't know if any earlier diagnosis could have saved her, but she'd have had more of a chance.
'
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she → say → chance
Liberty's type of sarcoma was a particularly aggressive sarcoma and, after she was operated on, it had spread to her lungs in just six weeks.
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it → operate → weeks
'Her cancer was rare, underfunded and under-researched, so the best chance of helping other people is by making sure they are diagnosed early.'
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they → research → people
Dr Sharna Shanmugavadivel, a paediatric emergency medicine doctor who is leading the charity's campaign, said: 'Time to diagnosis for soft tissue sarcoma has been shown to have a significant, independent association with overall survival in children, yet it is one of the longest among all childhood cancers.
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it → lead → cancers
One of the major pitfalls in diagnosing soft tissue sarcoma in children is recognising when something doesn't fit the expected picture.
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something → diagnose → picture
We are seeing that a lump may be attributed to an injury despite no clear history of trauma, mistaken for a lipoma or bruise, or continue to be diagnosed as an infection when it has not responded to antibiotics.
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it → see → antibiotics
'Recognising that it has not improved as expected or is getting worse and investigating further is crucial.'
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it → recognise → ?
She added: 'We have created these guidelines because reducing these avoidable delays has the potential to reduce treatment-related harm and save the lives of children across the UK.'
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reducing → add → UK
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