A mum-of-two who was told by doctors that she had a food intolerance died from terminal cancer two days after her son's first birthday, aged just 42.
Claire Young died from bowel cancer on February 1, leaving behind her husband Bobby Young, 45, sons Bobby Jr, six, and Ollie, one, mum Angela Thompson, sister Joanne Gill and uncle Anthony Gallop.
Claire first went to the doctors back in 2018 but her symptoms were initially put down to being caused by a food intolerance.
It wasn't until two years later that she was referred for further tests.
On August 3 last year, 'looking fit and well', Claire was told the devastating news she had stage four bowel cancer which had also spread to her liver.
By the time she discovered she had the fatal diagnosis, doctors said it was too late for treatment and that she had mere weeks to live.
The 42-year-old's final wish was for her friends and family to raise awareness of bowel cancer and misdiagnosis in young people.
This is something they are determined to do, starting with a sponsored walk on Sunday to raise money for Bowel Cancer UK.
Claire's sister, Joanne Gill, told the ECHO: "When she was diagnosed they said she wasn't able to have any treatment and she literally had weeks to live which we found hard to believe.
"She looked fit and well and for someone to turn around and say you're going to die in a few weeks, we were like 'what?'"
After being referred to different doctors, Warrington mum Claire was given palliative chemotherapy and was later put on a trial for immunotherapy.
But when her condition deteriorated further in January, she was discharged from hospital and she spent the last eight days of her life at home with her family.
Joanne said: "She said to us when she came home when her treatment wasn't working 'will you make sure you get involved in any way you can for my boys and raise awareness of what's happened?'
"And 'if it just stops one family going through what we're going through that's what's important.'"
On Sunday, over 100 people will be completing a socially distanced sponsored walk from Claire’s home in Manley to Delamere Forest and back to raise money and awareness for Bowel Cancer UK.
A Just Giving page set up to raise money for the charity has raised nearly £9,700 so far.
Paying tribute, Joanne said: "She was so loved. She was such a genuine, lovely person.
"I just hope that in some way she's looking down and she can see what respect and love people have for her.
"She was just amazing. Her life was for those boys.
"She worked so hard and got a good career behind her so she could spend time with them and didn't have to work full time.
"Ollie is going to be too young to remember her which is the sad thing but I think little Bobby has hopefully got all those memories with her."
Joanne said Claire was more like a best friend than her sister and the two of them had a "unique bond".
Joanne said: "We did everything together, we were inseparable.
"We even had our boys at the same time. There's two weeks between them which was amazing for them because they're more like brothers."
You can find the family's Just Giving page by clicking here.
