A 15-year-old schoolgirl who was an enthusiastic dancer and cheerleader has had to have her leg amputated after doctors repeatedly dismissed symptoms as ‘growing pains.

The Daily Mail reports that Shannon Corr from Whittlesey in Cambridgeshire visited her doctor four times in two months suffering from pains in her right knee and shin that grew progressively worse.

GPs refused to refer her to hospital and in desperation Shannon’s mother took her to A&E and told staff her daughter had fallen so that staff would give her a full examination.

Doctors there immediately spotted that Shannon from suffering from osteosarcoma – a rare cancer that usually affects teenagers during growth periods. Shannon’s GP had dismissed the pains and told her to go home and rest, even though she was having trouble walking and had to lie in hot baths every evening to try and ease the pain.

Had Shannon’s condition been diagnosed earlier, there is a chance her leg could have been saved. However, doctors told her parents shortly before Christmas that amputation was the only alternative and on 5 January, Shannon had her leg removed just above the knee.

Shannon told reporters that delays by her GP surgery in referring her to hospital had robbed her of the chance that her leg might have been saved.

'I want people to know that they need to push their doctors to get them the treatment they need to prevent this happening to anyone else.

'The pain was so bad, it was awful. But the GPs just thought I was a teenage girl complaining and I even started to think the pain must be in my head,’ said Shannon.

'If they had taken me more seriously then I might have been diagnosed sooner and things could have been different.’

Shannon first visited her GP at New Queen Street Surgery in Whittlesey, near Peterborough
in late July 2009 and was told she had Osgood-Schlatter's disease – a painful knee condition often found in teenage boys who play football and similar sports.

On three subsequent visits, GPs said she was suffering from ‘growing pains ‘ – and one allegedly told her she must be healthy as she had walked unaided into the surgery. However, by the time Shannon’s condition had been diagnosed, the cancer had spread to her bones. If the cancer had been caught before this happened, Shannon could have had an operation to remove and replace the bone and her leg could have been saved.

Shannon’s mother Jeannetta, 44, has since complained to both the practice manager and a nurse at New Queen Street Surgery but has not received a response.

'Even to look at her now I just can't believe it has happened,‘ she said. ‘After the operation, neither of us wanted to look, but now we're getting used to it.

'We went to GPs on four separate occasions and they didn't spot it. It makes me so angry. Shannon has to live with this for the rest of her life.'

Her daughter was a member of the Posh All Stars Cheerleading team and was a pupil at the the Saldance School of Dancing in Fengate, Peterborough where she studied jazz, ballet and modern dance.

The family is now considering taking legal action against NHS Cambridgeshire PCT. The trust’s medical director Christine Macleod said:

'NHS Cambridgeshire was not previously aware of this case. However, we take any concerns over treatment very seriously.

'We would be happy to talk to the family direct about their experiences and would encourage them to get in contact with our local Patient Advice & Liaison Service.’

© 5r1 Limited 2010