{"id":41855,"date":"2026-08-12T23:27:29","date_gmt":"2026-08-12T18:27:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=41855"},"modified":"2026-08-12T23:27:29","modified_gmt":"2026-08-12T18:27:29","slug":"girl-11-diagnosed-with-stage-4-cancer-after-doctors-dismissed-symptoms-as-tonsilitis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=41855","title":{"rendered":"Girl, 11, diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer after doctors dismissed symptoms as tonsilitis"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<br \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content%2Fuploads%2Fsites%2F2%2F2026%2F08%2Fnewspress-collage-5qikmfc57-1786557793741.jpg?quality%3D90%26strip%3Dall%261786543462\" \/><\/p>\n<div>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module alignleft wp-block-nypost-editor-partner-article-links\">\n<\/aside>\n<p>A UK girl has been diagnosed with an aggressive childhood cancer after doctors dismissed her symptoms as tonsillitis.<\/p>\n<p>Armaie Burrows-Pitt, 11, had been experiencing extreme tiredness and a loss of appetite while on vacation in Devon, England back in May.<\/p>\n<p>General practitioners reassured her mom Nikki and stepdad Andy it was tonsillitis and prescribed her antibiotics to clear it up, saying she was \u201cperfectly fit and healthy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But when she failed to improve, Nikki rushed Armaie, who is known to her family as Melly, to Warwick Hospital in Warwick and demanded a blood test.<\/p>\n<p>Doctors carried out further tests, believing she could be suffering from sepsis, tuberculosis or an infection caught from a family vacation in Egypt in February.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>UK girl Armaie \u201cMelly\u201d Burrows-Pitt, 11, was diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer after originally being told her symptoms were tonsillitis. <span class=\"credit\">Emma Whyte \/ SWNS<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>But after 15 days in the hospital, she was transferred to Birmingham Children\u2019s Hospital, where doctors eventually diagnosed her with Burkitt lymphoma \u2014 a rare and aggressive form of childhood cancer.<\/p>\n<p>Mom-of-two Nikki, 38, said: \u201cWe went to Devon at the end of May and she had us all worried as we could see she was going downhill.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe was tired and didn\u2019t want to play much. She would take herself off to the corner of the park.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Melly began feeling fatigue and a lack of appetite while on a family vacation in England last May. <span class=\"credit\">Emma Whyte \/ SWNS<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cThat all started at the end of May. Then on May 31 my mom took her to Warwick A&amp;E.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe didn\u2019t want to talk, walk or eat \u2014 she just wanted to lie down.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe got told it was just a viral infection at Warwick, then I took her to a GP [general practitioner] on June 2 and the doctors told me it was tonsillitis.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI was told she was perfectly fit and healthy by the GP, but we knew she wasn\u2019t as she\u2019s such a fit and active young girl who\u2019s full of energy usually.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Melly with her mother Nikki, stepdad Andy and her twin brother Dallas. <span class=\"credit\">Emma Whyte \/ SWNS<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cThen I took her back to Warwick to be told it was tonsillitis again and to finish the antibiotics, but we knew it was something more.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Nikki said she knew Armaie wasn\u2019t just suffering from a virus as the 11-year-old gymnast was left virtually bed-bound and unable to eat.<\/p>\n<p>She thought maybe it could have been a gymnastics injury she suffered when she began to also complain of pain in her shin and groin.<\/p>\n<p>Nikki added: \u201cWe then went back to Warwick on June 10, and I said: \u2018I\u2019m not leaving until you do a blood test\u2019.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Melly was eventually diagnosed with Stage 4 Burkitt lymphoma.  <span class=\"credit\">Emma Whyte \/ SWNS<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cThey did one and admitted her. They thought it was sepsis, TB, or an infection from Egypt from when we went in February.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe spent 15 days there \u2014 Warwick was being led by Birmingham Children\u2019s Hospital as they thought it was something serious before she was moved there.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe was eventually diagnosed on July 3 with Stage 4 Burkitt lymphoma, after they thought it was an infection.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Melly is currently undergoing six months of chemotherapy. <span class=\"credit\">Emma Whyte \/ SWNS<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Burkitt lymphoma is a rare, fast-growing type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma that starts in white blood cells \u2014 specifically the B-cells.<\/p>\n<p>The aggressive cancer, which primarily affects children, can multiply very quickly before spreading through the body.<\/p>\n<p>Armaie is Stage 4 with the disease having spread to her spleen, liver and bone marrow.<\/p>\n<p>Nikki said: \u201cIt was all very traumatizing, having your daughter in hospital and not knowing what\u2019s wrong with her for all those weeks.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was very frustrating because every single GP I saw kept saying she was fine.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Melly playing in the hospital with her cousin, Margot. <span class=\"credit\">Emma Whyte \/ SWNS<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cShe\u2019s never seen a doctor in her life and has never been to a hospital, I knew she wasn\u2019t right.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe had all these symptoms that didn\u2019t necessarily relate to lymphoma.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s very frustrating to be told she\u2019s okay when she\u2019s not.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe wouldn\u2019t get out of bed, she didn\u2019t want to walk or eat or drink \u2014 it\u2019s not normal for a fit and active child to be completely wiped out.<\/p>\n<div class=\"single__inline-module inline-module inline-module--newsletter aligncenter inline-module--nypostbusinessunit aligncenter wp-block-nypost-editor-newsletter\" data-source-unit=\"Inline Newsletter Module Morning Report\">\n<div class=\"inline-module__inner\">\n<div class=\"inline-module__title-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"inline-module__unsubmitted-title-wrapper\">\n<h3 class=\"inline-module__title headline headline--combo-sm-md\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tStart your day with all you need to know\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/h3>\n<p class=\"inline-module__cta\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMorning Report delivers the latest news, videos, photos and more.\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><h3 class=\"inline-module__title headline headline--combo-sm-md\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\tThanks for signing up!\t\t\t\t\t<\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cChildren with symptoms like this probably get dismissed, which is frustrating.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou\u2019d think they would assume the worst case scenario first and rule it out, so to be left three or four weeks without a diagnosis was heartbreaking.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe first symptom was a neck pain which is why they thought it was meningitis in the hospital.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen she had a pain in her shin, then her groin and I thought it could\u2019ve been her gymnastics as a couple of weeks before she had an accident.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Melly\u2019s family plans to take the little girl on trips while she battles cancer. <span class=\"credit\">Emma Whyte \/ SWNS<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cThe symptoms would come and go. When they told me it was tonsillitis I did wonder if it was something more sinister.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Now the family are fundraising to cover costs while Armaie, undergoes six months of gruelling chemotherapy.<\/p>\n<p>Her aunt Emma Whyte, 36, added: \u201cThe main aim is to take Melly on lots of trips this year, we\u2019ve had to cancel a lot of holidays because of this.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe wants to go to Disney World Florida and Lapland.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut we also want to give back to Birmingham Children\u2019s Hospital and Ronald McDonald House for all their work.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMelly\u2019s stepdad is staying there and her mum is staying there, so it would be nice to give back to them.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think I put $675 as the target but we\u2019re nearly on $12,150.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn a strange way, it\u2019s brought us all together in the worst time imaginable.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A UK girl has been diagnosed with an aggressive childhood cancer after doctors dismissed her symptoms as tonsillitis. Armaie Burrows-Pitt, 11, had been experiencing extreme tiredness and a loss of appetite while on vacation in Devon, England back in May. General practitioners reassured her mom Nikki and stepdad Andy it was tonsillitis and prescribed her&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":41856,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/08\/newspress-collage-5qikmfc57-1786557793741.jpg?quality=75&strip=all&1786543462&w=1200","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-41855","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pics-news"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41855","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=41855"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41855\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/41856"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=41855"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=41855"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=41855"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}