A 20-year-old man has tragically been diagnosed with terminal cancer after doctors dismissed his symptoms as ‘growing pains.’
Graeme Porter was studying law at Edinburgh University, Scotland, with big dreams of going to America to ‘live a dream’ when his health took a drastic turn.
The then 19-year-old reported suffering from lower back pain and fatigue before dropping four stone in a little over a month.
Speaking to BristolLive, the young man said he endured constant debilitating pain, that went from mild to severe.
In one instance, he rushed to the emergency room but was sent home.
Graeme explained: “I thought I had blood in my vomit. They didn’t do a scan of my back when I told them I was in too much pain and they just focused on my chest where there was nothing there.”
Doctors reportedly continued to dismiss the Scotsman’s concerns, waiving them off as simply growing pains when actually there was something far more sinister.
The young man posts about his cancer diagnosis on TikTok (graemeporter25/TikTok)
Amongst the list, Graeme said: “Things Drs have told me which turned out to be cancer… Blood clot. Growing pain. Muscle pain. Kidney stones. Urine infection. Infection.”
Graeme said he was ‘not prepared’ to hear the devastating diagnosis which came in June 2023.
A biopsy revealed he had Ewing sarcoma in his lower spine and a 10 centimetre mass.
The rare cancer occurs in bones and surrounding tissues and mostly affects people between the ages of 10 to 20 years old.
He went into remission – but the cancer came back months later (graemeporter25/TikTok)
Graeme completed 14 cycles of intense chemotherapy, six weeks of radiotherapy and fought off sepsis twice.
The young man was able to ring the bell when he went into remission in February 2024, but things took a turn the following October, just one month upon his return to college, when doctors found the cancer had spread to his lungs and could not be cured.
In December last year, he started palliative chemotherapy, which includes taking a chemo drug to try to keep the cancer from spreading for as long as possible – but doesn’t know how long he’s got left.
“I think looking back on it with my personal experience, it is easy to say it was a misjudgement,” he told the news outlet. “However, with the amount of young people having cancer being low, especially in such a small city, I don’t think saying it’s cancer should be the first response.
“However, I do think it should be on the cards as a background thought or check, just to be safe.”
He now documents his cancer battle on TikTok and urges others to get checked, ‘no matter how minor’ symptoms may appear.
His friend, Lila Beresford, also launched a fundraiser to help Graeme tick off a bucket list, which includes travelling to the other side of the world.
The GoFundMe reads: “Graeme loves to live life everyday and is so grateful for every single opportunity he is given. His last wish is to visit Australia, something he has always wanted to do but unfortunately health insurance prices are making this challenging. Any donations to make this possible would be so gratefully appreciated by Graeme & his family.”