Boy, 14, misdiagnosed with long Covid dies of aggressive rare cancer months later

A boy who had been misdiagnosed with long Covid for months and was finally diagnosed with an aggressive and rare cancer died less than a year later, as his family now claim medical negligence against the North London hospital he was seen by. Kane Harris was just 12 years old when he first started displaying symptoms of exhaustion, stomach cramps and vomiting in the first couple of months of 2022.

His parents took him to Barnet General Hospital in North London, where he was diagnosed with long Covid in May. His mum Michelle remembered questioning it, as Kane had never had Covid.

But they trusted the medical professionals' diagnosis, and Kane did the exercises he was prescribed, but continued to deteriorate rapidly. Kane's dad, Dean, said a 20 minute walk would take Kane an hour, and he was putting on a considerable amount of weight, while barely being able to eat.

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Michelle, 41, said: "I took him to Barnet General at the end of March last year. He got wrongly diagnosed by Barnet General in May with long Covid. On July 11th of last year, we got admitted to UCLH. Two days later I got told, he's got cancer."

Kane's weight was one of the key reasons why his parents believe he was misdiagnosed, Kane's dad said. Dean, 41, told MyLondon: "They [doctors] just assumed Kane was overweight and they weren't willing to budge on that.

"They were just like, he's overweight, that's it, get him out, move on." Kane was asked to speak to nurses and doctors privately, who'd tell him to stop eating junk food and that that was what was causing him to be ill, Dean added.

Michelle said after Barnet Hospital diagnosed Kane with long Covid, she had to keep ringing them saying he wasn't able to do the exercises they'd set for him, and that he was getting worse, not better. She said she persuaded the doctors to do an X-Ray on Kane's chest as he had such a terrible cough. Looking at the X-Ray, Michelle said: "You couldn't even see his ribs, they were all white."

They admitted Kane to Barnet General Hospital, before transferring him to Great Ormond Street and then UCLH. Kane was diagnosed with a rare and aggressive form of cancer called rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS). RMS is a cancer that forms in soft tissue and sticks to muscle tissues, Michelle explained.

She said: "When they went into surgery and opened him up, it was stuck on his diaphragm, stuck to one of the main blood vessels." Kane went through a gruelling 18-hour surgical operation where his diaphragm was replaced, and one of his main blood vessels had to be reconstructed out of plastic tubing.

Michelle added: "He was lucky to even come out of that." Michelle only found out that Kane had cancer when she was on the train home from the hospital after leaving her son with his dad for a while.

She said: "Kane rang me and said, the doctor's just come in and she's told me I've got cancer. They didn't even wait for me to get there and tell us as a family."

Michelle continued: "I was f***ing broken. I didn't know any kids who had cancer. It's old people, middle-aged people, not kids."

Kane was just 12 years old when he got the diagnosis of cancer. Michelle said: "He's a bit like me, strong minded. I talked to him and said, we're in this situation right now, we have to think of the surroundings and that's it, and we have to face it and we're going to beat it."

Everything felt completely out of the blue to the family. Michelle said Kane had never been in a hospital and then all of a sudden, he had cancer.

Kane then went through nine rounds of chemotherapy, 28 rounds of radiotherapy and an 18-hour operation over the course of the next few months, before ringing the bell on June 29, 2023 to symbolise he'd finally finished the long months of treatment.

Michelle said: "There was hope at that point. I thought, and so did Kane think, we thought that was it." But she added: "The bell's pointless. We do know that. You're just saying you've finished your cycles, it doesn't mean you're cancer free.

"It does give you hope, it gave me hope. I was proud. It was my baby, I wanted him to be here now."

But just weeks later, in August, the family got the devastating news that Kane had relapsed, and he had three large tumours attached to major organs. Kane was told by the hospital there was nothing more they could do for him and that he only had weeks left to live.

It was a week before his 14th birthday. His aunt, Lisa, said: "As a child, knowing that, knowing you're going to die. There's so much on someone so young's shoulders. It's so hard."

Kane died on September 18, and one of his last wishes was to raise money for research into RMS. Lisa said Michelle called her one day, and said he wanted to set up a charity in his memory so he wouldn't get forgotten.

Lisa said: "He wanted to help other people. He wanted to raise money so they can research for the cancer he'd got." He also wanted some money to go to the T-11 ward at UCLH, where he stayed for most of his treatment.

Michelle added: "He said, if I can help one child not go through what I've been through, it's too late for me, if I can help one child I'll be happy." Kane's big fear was that he'd be forgotten, and he was keen to leave a legacy behind him when he died.

The young teenager was a lovely boy, his mum said, "a little character". His aunt Lisa said: "He was always so kind. He always put everyone else before himself. He was just the cutest boy, he was so kind."

Another of Kane's aunts, Kellyann, said: "We as a family are just heartbroken to lose such a kind caring boy. He was just so kind and thoughtful putting my feelings before his own. He didn’t want to upset me in anyway."

Kane loved watching football fan, supporting Middlesbrough. He and his dad would go on adventures together, from going trainspotting to visiting museums.

Kellyann added: "Kane's mum Michelle has been absolutely amazing throughout this whole time. She's been with him every day. Kane was lucky Michelle was always by his side."

A Royal Free London spokesperson said: “We would like to offer our heartfelt condolences to Kane's family at this very difficult time. We are sorry that Kane’s parents are unhappy with the care we provided and we take this matter extremely seriously.

"We have attempted to contact them after being made aware of their concerns, which we will be looking into through our formal complaints process."

You can donate to the fundraiser in Kane's memory here.

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