Student who discovered she had cancer just months after her mum's devastating diagnosis dies

Her mum is in remission but still undergoing treatment

A Midlands university student who discovered she had cancer just months after her mum's devastating diagnosis has died. Erin Chappell was diagnosed with Uterine Sarcoma - a cancer of the muscle and supporting tissues in the uterus - just a few days before her 18th birthday in 2020.

Her tragic health news came just a few months after mum Nicky Hutchinson was told she had stage four Hodgkins Lymphoma. Erin's condition deteriorated and she tragically died last week.

Her heartbroken mum is in remission but still undergoing treatment. Now Erin's family say they fear they may not be able to give the student the send off she deserves due to crippling funeral fees and the cost of caring for her in her last days.

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The family has been so worried about funeral costs they have been looking into holding a 'Pauper's funeral', MirrorOnline reports. The double cancer blow meant Erin's self-employed parents Nicky and Ian were left struggling without sick pay to keep themselves afloat financially.

Nicky said she was also embarrassed to ask for help. But a family friend has since set up an online fundraiser to 'honour Erin'.

Despite her illness, Erin enrolled at De Montfort University, in Leicester, where she was studying Criminology and Psychology. She had hoped to work with children, supporting them with their mental health.

Family friend Hannah Awesome said Erin, from Hatherleigh, Devon, had gone back to university in September as she was determined to 'live a normal life'. But she soon deteriorated.

Hannah toldDevon Live: "Erin wanted to help children that were suffering from anxiety as she struggled to go to school. She wanted to make them realise that doing it their way was good enough and to believe in themselves.

"She didn't want to sit around waiting to die so she returned to university in September this year. When she went back, she wanted to live a normal life for a while but she only successfully managed a few days before she was in quite a bit of pain.

"She came back to see her doctor in Devon and the went back up to Leicester but unfortunately, a few days later she felt really horrific and ended up in hospital in Leicester. It was a very intense few weeks and she was in absolute agony and they called Erin's parents to come up."

Erin was transferred to the Royal Devon & Exeter Hospital to be closer to family. She was later taken home to spend her final days there.

Since her tragic death, Erin's family has been trying to organise a funeral but crippling costs of caring for her at home and a basic funeral costing about £5,000 have made it difficult. Mum Nicky has even been looking into a 'Pauper's funeral' - a public health funeral with no flowers, viewings, obituaries or transport for family members.

Friend Hannah said this was an 'injustice' and launched the fundraiser on the family's behalf. She added: "It's really eye-opening because the costs of keeping oxygen running 24/7 is humongous and the family had no income coming in for months.

"It's been a period of real intense financial hardship. They've been left with a huge electricity bill for the oxygen. It's been a massive shock that for a really basic funeral, it's like £5,000 so then Nicky was having to consider what's known as Pauper's funeral.

"She put a post on Facebook saying 'please tell me a Pauper's funeral isn't as clinical as it sounds'. It feels like such an injustice that she's grieving her daughter and hasn't got enough money for a proper goodbye.

"That was the motivation for setting up the fundraiser. She's put on Facebook that she's really embarrassed that she has to ask for this but she just wants to do her daughter justice."

'Selfless' Erin also helped her mum when she was going through treatment. Hannah added: "When Nicky got diagnosed with cancer, she was their for her mum every step of the way.

"Then she got diagnosed herself while her mum was still having treatment and then the pandemic hit and it was a horrific time. This last year, in particular, she got so so unwell but despite that, she still put everyone else before herself.

"People are saying that sometimes you wouldn't even realise how much pain she was in because she was so worried about other people. She was selfless, exactly the same as Nicky." The funeral has since been booked for late December.

See the fundraiser here.