A 34-year-old mum-of-five died just six weeks after she was told she had terminal cancer - and five months after she was initially given laxatives for her symptoms, her family have claimed.
Now heartbroken auntie Judith Spence, 51, is raising funds for the funeral of her beloved niece Louise Gemma Gray - who she claims was fobbed off by doctors and prescribed laxatives when she complained of constipation and rectal bleeding.
Louise, who died on November 3, leaves behind her five children, with twins as young as three, and her desperate family are now trying to pick up the pieces.
Angered Judith claims Louise, of Peterlee, County Durham, had told her no tests were carried out when she raised concern about her symptoms with doctors and was prescribed laxatives - despite previously undergoing surgery last year to have cervical cancer cells removed.
Toward the end of her illness, she suddenly lost control of her bowel movements and was rushed to the emergency department at North Tees Hospital.
Judith says Louise received two blood transfusions to save her life - and doctors discovered she had cancer of the liver, bowel, and cervix - leaving the young mum reeling and struggling to process the devastating news.
Six weeks later she died - and now her family are looking to raise funds for her funeral, and to pay for therapy for her grieving children, who have been left devastated at the sudden loss of their mum.
Louise, who previously worked in a call centre, was forced to give up the job due to mental health issues - leaving her with no life insurance or savings.
"Louise was absolutely hysterical because she didn't know what was going on - they sent her home with no care, with nobody there for her - the first week was horrendous," Judith told the Mirror.
"Something needs to be done, it cant bring Louise back, but raising awareness could save someone else's life.
"We're feeling very angry, and frustrated. She was treated like a hypochondriac."
In 2021, an HPV smear test showed Louise had abnormal cells, which turned out to be cervical cancer and she had an operation to remove the cells.
After this, she suffered several kidney infections, forcing her to miss some of her radiotherapy sessions, her family say.
Then in April 2022, she went to her GP complaining that she had blood clots in her stool.
It was here she was prescribed laxatives but Louise went on to be unwell for the following five months, and it turned out she was terminally ill with three types of cancer.
And when her diagnosis was confirmed at the hospital, now seven weeks ago, the single mum didn't want to know how long she had left.
She received benefits, raising her five children - Hayden, 16, Morgan, 13, Cobyjay, five, and twins Caleb and Cole, three - alone.
"It's been absolutely soul-destroying for them, the two older ones have been there and seen it all," Judith continues.
"We have all been left totally heartbroken and traumatised by everything that has taken place and would love to give her a send-off her children will never forget to hopefully help them heal, seeing how loved their mother really was."
Describing Louise, Judith, who says she will be making a formal complaint about the treatment following the funeral, reveals: "We lost our sister six years ago to breast cancer - we have the BRCA1 gene.
"We always thought Louise was so much like my sister.
"She had a very witty, dry sense of humour. Everywhere she went she was smiling.
"It's just been awful from start to finish. I just want to make sure no one else goes through that."
If you'd like to donate to Judith's cause, you can do so here - £2,690 has already been raised to help cover her funeral.
North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust has told The Mirror that they are looking to investigate Louise's treatment - and have not yet received a formal complaint from the family.
