Woman given months to live after getting 'toothache'

Woman given months to live after going to the dentist with 'bad toothache'

Laura Parker thought she had a gum infection

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A woman was given devastating news after believing she had severe toothache. Laura Parker, 35, from Wallasey, felt something wasn’t right with her wisdom tooth and went to the dentist.

However, her pain continued and she found herself getting bruises a lot easier. Soon she took herself back to the dentist and wasn’t prepared for what happened next.

Speaking to the ECHO, her friend close Becky Biddulph said: “She went in with a toothache and she didn't feel very well. She thought she had an infection in the gums. But she kept bruising a lot easier, and the bruises weren't going away.

"It was quite minor things, and it was only because she really didn't feel very well that she pushed for the GP appointment. That's where she found the unfortunate news.”

Laura was diagnosed with leukaemia last December and began treatment soon after, but her condition worsened. Becky said: “She had three rounds of chemotherapy and radiotherapy and it seemed to be going okay. She responded quite well to it.

“Then things took a really quick turn for the worst. It turned out that the cancer had spread into her bones and she was given her terminal diagnosis. The cancer was so aggressive that the tumour in a bone had grown to the size of a size three football. She ended up having that amputated in August. She’s now on end-of-life care and I've just taken each and every day as it comes.”

The news was devastating for Becky and everyone close to Laura, who was told by doctors she had a few months to live. However, Becky is stunned by how her friend has responded. She said: “Laura’s one of the most down to earth people you ever meet. She's so generous and so loving. After she received the diagnosis, she's been nothing but positive. She doesn't know when her last day is going to be with how aggressive her illness is.

“While everyone's been upset, she’s been an actual ray of sunshine throughout all of it. She comes in to work quite often and has a cup of coffee and a bite to eat. The running joke is us going, ,my God, Laura, you look better than what we all do.'”

Becky wanted to do something to support others going through similar struggles to Laura. On Saturday afternoon, she hosted a ‘24 hour clubbathon’ where they work together at the Soccer Dome, a dance based workout done in the dark with disco lights and glowsticks. This was followed by a family fun day yesterday afternoon. All the money from this will go to the Blood Cancer UK charity.

Becky said: “I’d seen so many cases of children being diagnosed with leukaemia, so when Laura was diagnosed, I was taken aback. I then found out that blood cancer is in the top five most diagnosed cancers across the whole.

“It was a huge shock as Laura's 35 herself. That's why we came up with the idea of the clubbathon in order to raise awareness, raise funds and get Laura's story shared as much as possible.”

Becky says Laura along with over 60 others joined them in last weekend’s event, with hundreds of people joining them at the family fun day. Over £11,000 has been raised for the charity at the time of writing. Becky was blown away by the support.

She said: “It was supposed to be a few instructors trying to raise a little bit of money, and it's turned into a massive community. None of us are athletes. We’re just normal people getting together, driven by Laura's inspiration.” You can find out more about Laura’s JustGiving fundraiser here.

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