A young mum who was "always laughing" died one week after going to the doctor with concerns after bruises appeared on her body.
"Amazing" health care assistant Sarah Armstrong suffered a stroke and died one week after she was given the heartbreaking news she had acute myeloid leukemia, at age 22.
Aintree Hospital worker Sarah, from Fazakerley, visited the doctor after she developed mysterious bruises on her body and had "flu-like symptoms".
Her childhood friend Danielle Johnson, 22, said the mum-of-one - who had a two year old daughter - believed she was coming down with the flu, after working at the hospital and did not realise how serious things were.
Danielle said: "No one can believe it, everyone is in bits and shocked.
"Sarah was coming out in all these bruises and she had been telling me she couldn't explain where they were coming from.
"I said you need to get an appointment and go to the doctors.
"She went to the doctor and they said she would need to get a blood test. On the same day they called her to say 'you need to go to A&E, you're going to have to go now'."
Sarah was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) a cancer of the myeloid line of blood cells, on January 24 and immediately started chemotherapy treatment on January 29.
Tragically she died on February 1.
Despite receiving the devastating diagnosis, Danielle said Sarah was "very positive and strong" even though she faced the gruelling treatment.
She said: "She was just full of life. I just can't believe it, we were sitting there laughing the night before she died.
"They started the chemotherapy and she was doing amazing. She was always positive."
On February 1, Danielle said she received a message from Sarah's partner, Joel, who told her to call him right away.
Devastatingly the mum had suffered a stroke and sadly died that evening, just days into her treatment.
Paying tribute to her friend, Danielle said: "She was full of life. She was really positive, she did everything for everyone.
"She was always laughing and she always made everyone laugh. She was an amazing mum, she just always put everyone first."
Following her tragic death a gofund me page was launched to raise money for Sarah's funeral.
The page reads: We would really appreciate if people could donate anything you can afford,the funds will be going towards Sarah’s funeral costs,her baby girl and loving boyfriend Joel.
"Sarah wanted the images and story to be shared to raise awareness and hopefully help others catch this sooner."
To donate please click here
Sarah left a days before she died, warning others of the symptoms to look out for in an effort to prevent others going through the same thing.
