Girl, 8, dies after being forced to plan her own funeral when cancer was mistaken for ‘growing pains’

AN EIGHT year old girl who was left to spend the last few months of her short life planning her own funeral after docs failed to spot lethal cancer signs for FOUR YEARS has died.

Little Darcy McGuire from Fife, Scotland first became unwell aged just three, but repeated trips to the doctors over the next four years saw the signs of deadly bone cancer dismissed as just “growing pains.”

Eventually Darcy’s illness was diagnosed at the beginning of 2019.

Mum Carol, 38, says her daughter had been in constant pain since the age of three – but doctors dismissed it as a result of two operations to fuse part of her spine as a baby, putting it down as “growing pains.”

‘ONE IN A MILLION’

As she grew older, Darcy was constantly tired – in summer 2018 she began to rapidly lose weight and was so exhausted she couldn’t join in and play with her pals.

Carol says doctors only began to take the little girl’s complaints seriously when when her eight-year-old daughter began falling over daily and soiling herself.

Little Darcy was diagnosed with an extremely rare form of bone cancer called chordoma and given just months to live.

Darcy’s family announced this afternoon that she had passed away “very peacefully.”

Taking to Facebook, a status was posted on the page Dary Rae’s Dreams which read: “Darcy was one in a million and a huge part of my heart will never heal.

“I’m so grateful to have had 8 amazing years with her, she has taught me so much in the last year and the strength she has maintained throughout is what will keep me strong.”

This is definitely not something any mother should have to do with their eight-year-old daughter

By the time of diagnosis, the cancer had spread to her ribs, lungs, skull, hand, arms and legs.

After three rounds of aggressive chemotherapy,

Darcy made the brave decision to stop treatment and concentrate on making memories that her family could cherish.

Carol hailed her daughter an “inspiration” at the time, adding: “She’s always smiling and always wants to help others, even when she’s going through so much herself.”

Incredible Darcy helped her mum to plan her own funeral and raised thousands of pounds for the charity Children’s Hospices Across Scotland after she found out she was terminally ill.

Speaking back in October, Carol said: “Hearing the news that my youngest daughter was terminal was the worst day of my life.

“I was so angry and frustrated because I always knew, as her mum, that something was being missed.

“Darcy has helped plan every single part of her funeral along with me.

“This was extremely important to me because I wanted her to have everything her way.

“This is definitely not something any mother should have to do with their eight-year-old daughter.”