A 22-YEAR-OLD carer is taking legal advice after claiming she almost died when doctors failed to diagnose a stomach illness after 19 appointments.

Cassie Vincent, pictured left, visited her GP surgery over a four-month period in 2009 and was admitted to hospital but only after pressure from her dad Andrew Vincent.

She underwent surgery 10 days later and had to have 18cm of her bowel removed after an abscess was discovered and only then did medics realise she was suffering from Crohn's disease.

Now Cassie, who has only just returned to work, is considering a negligence claim against biddulphdoctors, in Well Street, Biddulph, because she believes her condition should have been diagnosed sooner.

Her case comes weeks after the family of 23-year-old Malcolm Drake, of Blurton, received a six-figure compensation payout when hospital doctors misdiagnosed his fatal Crohn's disease complaint as a groin strain.

Cassie, of Tunstall Road, Biddulph, started feeling unwell in June 2009, while working at a nursing home. She was unable to keep food down and became severely constipated.

Cassie said: "I went to the doctors 19 times in four months.

"Sometimes I was going three or four times a week and I would be given a different diagnosis on some of those visits.

"Once they thought I might be pregnant and I had a pregnancy test.

"By September 2009, I was really poorly. I was sleeping all the time and couldn't get out of bed.

"I have no confidence now. I had 18cm of my bowel removed and food goes straight through me.

"I don't like going out in case I suddenly need to dart to the toilet. This is going to affect me mentally for a long time.

"The hospital doctors said the abscess on my bowel was the biggest they'd seen.

"They said if I hadn't come in when I did it might have ruptured, which would have left me with septicaemia.

"I've been told I could have died without the surgery."

Cassie spent a month at the University Hospital of North Staffordshire recovering.

She believes she may be entitled to compensation for the mental and physical effects of the past two years and has contacted Cardiff-based law firm Hugh James to look at her case.

Stephen Webber, of Hugh James, said: "We are currently investigating to establish if a negligence claim can be made."

Jill Eardley, practice manager at biddulphdoctors, said she could not comment on the case due to patient confidentiality.