22-year-old woman dies after doctors reportedly mistook her cancer for pregnancy

(WTXF) - A 22-year-old British woman has died from an aggressive form of cancer after her doctors reportedly initially mistook the disease for pregnancy.

According to an obituary, Demi Wright from Colchester died “peacefully” on February 23 after briefly battling the disease.

Demi’s father, Chris Wright, spoke to the Daily-Gazette saying that his daughter was happy and cheerful.

“She didn’t have a bad bone in her body,” he told the newspaper. “She had an infectious, beautiful smile and it showed her personality off.”

Demi had a benign tumor in her liver as a child, her family told Metro UK. As a result, she had check-ups in her teens.

Last November, Metro UK reports that Demi began to experience pain in her side. When she went to the doctor, they noticed that she was emitting human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG), a hormone that is emitted during pregnancy.

According to the Canadian Cancer Center, though increases in HCG is common in pregnant women, the levels of the hormone can also increase if there are certain cancers present in the body, like liver or ovarian cancer.

Doctors believed that Demi could be pregnant and scheduled an ultrasound.

“It was strange because she had been using the contraceptive pill and there were no other signs of her being pregnant,” her father told Metro UK. “I went to an ultrasound with her and they were looking to see what was happening.”

Medical staff didn’t find a baby, so they performed a laparoscopic surgery to try and figure out what was going on, according to Metro UK.

Eventually, they found that Demi had a tumor on her liver and the cancer had spread through her body.

According to her father, Demi never cried, even after she learned that her cancer was terminal.

“I absolutely broke down and she patted the bed and told me to sit by her and she gave me a big hug and said, ‘It’s going to be okay,’” he told Metro UK. “She was a real trooper.”

Demi died three weeks later, leaving behind her mother, father, brother, sister, and many friends and family members, according to the obituary.

Her boyfriend, Mitch Gregory, spoke to the Daily-Gazette and said that the family feels “robbed.”

“It needs to be stressed how much courage she had,” he said. “She’s our inspiration now.”

Now, Demi’s family is raising money to support cancer research in the UK, and are sharing their story.