Girl killed by cancer was told she had indigestion

A teenager died of stomach cancer after being repeatedly told by doctors that she only had indigestion.

Stacey Stephenson's condition was finally diagnosed correctly by a Greek doctor while she was holidaying on Crete.

Miss Stephenson, 19, returned to England for treatment but succumbed to the cancer earlier this month.

Yesterday her mother Gillian Stephenson and stepfather Malcolm Lowther described how their nightmare unfolded.

In June, Miss Stephenson, a loans adviser, complained of feeling sick and found it difficult to keep her food down.

She went to her doctor, who prescribed her medication for acid indigestion. Her symptoms continued so she returned two weeks later and was given the same remedy.

Her stomach started to swell so her mother phoned NHS Direct, which advised her to go to hospital.

But the pain continued and after another week passed Miss Stephenson returned to her doctor. She was told to take a blood test but was going to Crete the next day with four friends.

During the second week of her stay the stomach pains got so bad that she was admitted to a Greek hospital. Her mother, speaking at the family home in Newcastle, said: 'We were called by a Greek doctor who said we had to fly over there straight away.

'I couldn't quite understand what was happening but Malcolm and I caught a flight and got there quick.

'We were called on the same day as Stacey's sister, Lindsey, told us she was pregnant. My emotions went from one extreme to another in one day.'

Mr Lowther, 43, said: 'An X-ray showed a tumour in her stomach and that was why she was feeling sick and couldn't hold her food down. A doctor from Athens escorted us home on the flight and an ambulance was waiting at Newcastle Airport to take us to the Freeman Hospital.'

After a week Miss Stephenson showed no signs of improvement and was transferred to the city's Royal Victoria Infirmary teenage cancer unit. Her stepfather said: 'She started chemotherapy but her body was so weak that she was rushed into the intensive care unit where she was put on a ventilator. Eventually her kidneys failed.'

She died surrounded by family and friends. Her mother added: 'She was a beautiful person - in looks and her manner. It all happened so quickly. I can't believe she has gone.'

Miss Stephenson will be buried alongside her father, Brian, who died of a brain haemorrhage at the age of 33 in 1993. No one from Newcastle General Hospital or the health trust was available for comment yesterday.