Chloe Venton, a 17-year-old from Swindon, died of cancer after doctors initially misdiagnosed her symptoms as a urinary tract infection (UTI). Her mother, Joanne Venton, 42, has spoken out about the heartbreak of fighting for the correct diagnosis, which came too late to save her daughter.
Missed Signs and a Mother's Persistence
Chloe was 15 when she began waking up in the middle of the night screaming in pain, sweating profusely, and needing to urinate frequently. Doctors repeatedly dismissed her symptoms as a UTI and prescribed antibiotics. Over seven months, Joanne took Chloe back to the GP multiple times as the antibiotics failed. Finally, after Chloe reported losing bladder control and numbness in her lower body, Joanne refused to leave the surgery until further tests were ordered.
"One day, Chloe rang me from college saying that she almost wet herself so I took her straight to the doctor and again they brushed it off as a UTI. Chloe's pain in her lower back had radiated around to her hips, she was becoming numb in her lower body and now losing control of her bladder," Joanne said. "At such a young age these were not normal, and I knew something else was wrong so I refused to leave the GP's office. The GP then sent us to the hospital just to shut me up, and that's where the scans first revealed the tumour."
Diagnosis: Ewing Sarcoma
In May 2018, scans at Great Western Hospital in Swindon revealed a tumour on Chloe's spine. She was referred to John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford for further tests, including scans, blood tests, MRIs, and CT scans. There, Joanne and her husband Gary, 43, received the devastating diagnosis: Chloe had an aggressive form of Ewing sarcoma, a type of bone cancer.
"I'll never forget the next morning. Gary and I were taken to a small, cold white room and told she had cancer. It was a whirlwind from there. In my head, I thought she can't have cancer; cancer is for people that abuse their bodies or have a genetic condition. I couldn't believe in my head that my teenage daughter had it," Joanne said.
Chloe, who had been studying to become a doctor and was on a work placement at a local hospital, asked the doctors detailed questions about her treatment. She began chemotherapy within hours.
Secondary Cancer and Final Fight
After ten cycles of chemotherapy, proton therapy, and five more cycles of chemotherapy, Chloe became severely ill again and developed a rash. Doctors initially said it was a side effect of treatment, but Joanne insisted something was wrong. The rash turned out to be leukaemia cutis, and Chloe was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia—a secondary cancer.
Chloe died unexpectedly in July 2020, aged 17. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, the family held a socially distanced funeral. Joanne said, "It was a complete nightmare and something we will always hate the Government for. They had parties while we couldn't spend our final days together as a family. We weren't allowed funeral cars so I had to drive myself behind my own daughter's coffin, it was horrific."
A Call for Change
A 2023 study by the British Medical Journal (BMJ) estimated that misdiagnoses affect around 1 in 18 patients in primary and secondary care, with misdiagnosed cancers, strokes, and heart attacks among the most serious cases. Joanne hopes her story will prevent other families from suffering the same fate.
"I want to talk about it so other people don't get missed in the system and end up losing their daughter like that. Chloe's laugh was infectious, her smile was amazing, she had the biggest heart, and she wouldn't complain or cry to anyone except me," she said. "In her final days, she said to me, 'I'll never see my brothers grow up and get married and I'll never get to be the auntie I want to be', which just broke me."
