A woman who was told her symptoms were down to Crohn's disease actually had bowel cancer.
Emma Egerton was diagnosed with ulcerated colitis when she was aged 11, which then progressed to Crohn's disease. Ever since then, the 33-year-old had been living with the "crippling illness".
Crohn's disease is a lifelong condition where parts of the digestive system become inflamed. The main symptoms include stomach aches and cramps, fatigue, weight loss and diarrhoea.
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But when Emma began to seek help for certain symptoms such as chronic fatigue and abdominal pain, she was told it was due to Crohn's and so "plodded on". But earlier this year, she was given the devastating diagnosis that she has stage four bowel cancer.
Mum Trisha, from Runcorn, told the ECHO: "She's been under hospital care since 16 when she left Alder Hey and they were treating her every six weeks to try and control the Crohn's. When she finally had this camera, we found out she had cancer and it was stage four and inoperable.
"She was told to just accept it because it was part of Crohn's, she didn't have the classic cancer symptoms like blood in the poo but she plodded on thinking it was Crohn's and it wasn't."
Despite living with the gruelling illness, Emma has been "determined to live her life" as she worked with the homeless and was "heavily involved in the community" which has always been a "passion of hers".
Always working above and beyond, only taking a break to give birth to her five-year-old son, Emma is now no longer to work due to the cancer is and is being cared for by her parents. Having been told the chemotherapy treatment may only be 50% successful, the family are hoping to get to Germany for private treatment.
A fundraising page has been set up by family friend Jenny Graham, who describes Emma as a "gorgeous, courageous lady", which has so far surpassed £14,000, which the family are "incredibly grateful" for.
Trisha added: "She's absolutely devastated, we all are. She's got to start chemotherapy but we are looking to get her to Germany for treatment but that's going to be £17,000. We are trying to get her vitamin infusions in the mean time but each are those are around £500."
Anyone wishing to donate to the fundraiser can do so here.
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