A once fit and healthy 25-year-old woman has died of bone cancer less than a year after a tumour was discovered in her pelvis, following a misdiagnosis of her lower back pain as sciatica. Kate Drummond first noticed intermittent back pain in late summer 2020, attributing it to poor posture or over-exercising while working from home during the pandemic.
After the pain spread to her hip and became persistent, she visited A&E in May 2021 and was diagnosed with probable sciatica. Doctors noted she was one of the youngest patients they had seen with the condition. However, her symptoms worsened, and she sought a private MRI scan in July 2021, which revealed a grapefruit-sized tumour in her pelvis. A biopsy confirmed Ewing sarcoma, a rare bone cancer.
Within weeks, the cancer had aggressively spread to her lungs, liver, skull, jaw, and other bones. Despite undergoing radiotherapy and chemotherapy, Kate deteriorated rapidly in January 2022 and died in March 2022, less than a year after the initial diagnosis.
Her sister Kelly Drummond is sharing her story to urge others to listen to their bodies and advocate for themselves. She believes earlier diagnosis could have altered the outcome, stating, 'Kate's story shows just how unpredictable cancer is, and clearly, early diagnosis has been shown time and time again to save lives.'
