15-Year-Old’s Chest Pain Was Dismissed as ‘Anxiety.’ She Died 2 Years Later of Breast Cancer

A Scottish family says their teenage daughter died of breast cancer after her symptoms were repeatedly downplayed because of her age — including being told her chronic chest pain was caused by anxiety.

Isla Sneddon, from Airdrie, first sought medical help in July 2022 when she was 15, after finding a painful lump in her breast. Her parents, Michelle and Mark Sneddon, told STV News that they were reassured it was likely benign and related to hormonal changes.

Two years later, Isla’s GP grew concerned about possible breast cancer and referred her urgently to a breast clinic — but the family says her case was later downgraded. Michelle told the outlet that clinicians repeatedly attributed Isla’s symptoms to anxiety, saying her chest pain was “anxiety” and that nothing more serious was going on.

In September 2024, Isla became seriously unwell and was diagnosed with cancer. By then, the disease had spread to the lining of her heart and lungs, as well as her lymph nodes, and the family says they were told treatment was no longer possible.

“We couldn’t believe it. We were thinking, cancer? There should be treatments … but she’s terminal, and she’s got six months to a year,” Mark said, according to the outlet.

“She had six months and two days,” Michelle said.

Now, Isla’s family is pushing for changes to Scottish medical referral guidelines. They are calling for children with suspected cancer to face the same maximum waiting times as adults receiving urgent cancer referrals. The proposed change — which they are calling Isla’s Law — is being backed by a Change.org petition that has gathered more than 35,000 signatures. The petition asks for children to be “treated with the same urgency and access to diagnostics as adult cases, particularly when cancer is a possible diagnosis,” with the goal of improving early diagnosis and treatment for pediatric cancers.

“If they had treated her the same as an adult we think it would have been a different story,” Isla’s father told the outlet. “Maybe not a different story that she wouldn’t have died, but maybe we would have had more time.”

Scotland’s Health Secretary, Neil Gray, is expected to meet with the family next week to discuss their petition, STV reports.

“Right now, I should be teaching her how to drive,” Mark said. “Buying her a car. Letting her go on with the rest of her life. But, we’re sitting here mourning her death.”

“If it helps families not to go through what we’ve been through, that’s what we want.”