Woman, 35, who thought she had 'bad toothache' given months to live

A woman who thought she had severe toothache has been told she has just months to live. Laura Parker believed she just had a gum infection when she started noticing pain to her wisdom tooth.

The 35-year-old's symptoms continued and she realised she was also getting bruises a lot easier. She eventually went to see her GP but was left devastated when she was told she has cancer.

But her condition has since deteriorated and she has just months to live. Close friend Becky Biddulph said: "She went in with a toothache and she didn't feel very well.

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"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." Ms Parker, from Wallasey, Merseyside, was diagnosed with leukaemia last December.

She began treatment soon after but her condition worsened, Liverpool Echo reports. Ms Biddulph 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."

Doctors have told Ms Parker she has a few months to live. Her friend added: "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"."

Ms Biddulph recently hosted a ‘24 hour clubbathon’ - a dance based workout done in the dark with disco lights and glowsticks. This was followed by a family fun day, with all money supporting the Blood Cancer UK charity.

Ms Biddulph 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."

More than £11,000 has been raised for the charity so far. Ms Biddulph added: "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."

See the JustGiving fundraiser here.