A child with cancer on his toe was mistakenly diagnosed with a wart.

Nansi Alys was three when her mother, Leila Evans, first asked doctors about a growth on her foot.

Two years later, Nansi, from Criccieth in Gwynedd, was diagnosed with sarcoma – a type of cancer diagnosed in around 5,300 people in the UK each year.

“The doctors should have listened to me. I’m her mother and a mother knows best,” Ms Evans said.

In May 2021, Ms Evans took Nansi to a GP for the first time, where she was told that the growth was a wart.

But Mrs Evans was not convinced and the knot kept getting bigger.

In June 2022, she sought advice from another GP who said it was a benign cyst.

The following year, in July 2023, Nansi underwent surgery at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital in Liverpool to remove the tumor.

Tests were then carried out to find out what it was.

After six weeks of waiting, the family received the news that Nansi Desmoid-type fibromatosisa rare type of soft tissue sarcoma.

Leila is still disappointed that no one listened to her.

“I would have liked it if they had listened to me,” she said.

“I knew it wasn’t a wart. A mother knows when something is wrong with her children.”

Nevertheless, the diagnosis was a shock.

“Before Nansi was diagnosed, I had never heard of this disease,” said Leila.

“When I got the news a year ago, everything was going through my head: that my daughter has cancer, what will happen next, what the treatment will be like?

“It was a really upsetting time for the whole family.”

• Sarcoma is a type of cancer that can occur anywhere in the body
• There are two main types – soft tissue and bone
• The most common symptom is a lump that grows or changes
• It is the third most common cancer in children, but it occurs more frequently in middle-aged and older people.

Source: Sarcoma UK

Specialist sarcoma nurse Luke Davies from Singleton Hospital in Swansea said the condition was complicated.

“Plus, there are over a hundred different subtypes, so it can be difficult to diagnose,” he said.

“So people have to live with the disease and very often the relatives and friends of the affected person have never heard of the disease.”

On Saturday, Nansi’s family will hike up Yr Wyddfa – also known as Mount Snowdon – to raise awareness of the disease and money for charity.

“If we can help a family or a child, we are happy,” she said.

The charity Sarcoma UK said: “There remains an urgent need to raise awareness of sarcomas.

“Early diagnosis is critical to improving outcomes, yet many people, including some healthcare professionals, are unfamiliar with the signs and symptoms.

“We are determined to change this.”

The Welsh Government said it had presented a plan to improve cancer diagnosis and treatment.

It states: “We are also implementing the Cancer Research Strategy for Wales (CReSt) and its Rare Diseases Action Plan.”

“This work is part of the UK’s efforts to support the development of new innovations in the diagnosis and treatment of rare cancers, including clinical trials.”