Derby horse rider diagnosed with rare cancer after fall

Doctors found a large mass in Libby Dodes' abdomen after she fell from a horse

A woman has been diagnosed with a rare form of cancer after she was injured falling from a horse.

Doctors told Libby Dodes they had found a large tumour in her abdomen during a CT scan taken after she was thrown from her horse, Coco.

Tests revealed the 22-year-old, from Derby, has small cell ovarian cancer, a disease only affecting about 400 people across the world.

Her mum Vanessa Dodes said the illness had been "devastating" for her family.

Doctors spent more than three weeks trying to identify the illness, after they found the 9in (23cm) tumour in October.

Ms Dodes, from Mickleover, was diagnosed on 22 November and will now go through two years of treatment, involving chemotherapy, surgery and radiotherapy.

'Libby is a fighter'

Ms Dodes will also undergo immunotherapy treatment, which is currently not available on the NHS for this type of cancer.

Each iteration will cost £8,000 and so a fundraising campaign has been launched with a goal of £300,000.

"We have a long, hard road ahead of us, however Libby is a fighter and those who know her know she loves to prove people wrong and this is what she intends to do," Mrs Dodes said.

"She has her good days and her bad days but she doesn't show any distress or upset to anyone else but me.

"I believe 100% Libby's going to get through this - I can't see any other way. There's no way she would let it beat her."

Mrs Dodes, 48, said that her daughter "lives for her horses, dogs and cats", especially the animal she was riding on the day of her fall.

The family say Coco "saved her life" because without the fall, doctors would not have found the tumour.

Libby Dodes has moved to Nottingham City Hospital for further care

"She really did unseat Libby and it's not something she has ever done before," she said.

"It caused Libby to fall and get the hospital attention she needed.

"If it hadn't been for the fall, I'm not sure where we'd be today."

The fundraising page has already raised more than £47,000.

Mrs Dodes said she had been "blown away" by people's generosity.

"It has been absolutely phenomenal," she said.

Small cell ovarian cancer is a very rare form of the disease, gynaecological cancer charity The Eve Project said.

Only about 400 people cases of the disease have been reported, with the average age of diagnosis at 24, it added.

The family have elected to take Ms Dodes to Nottingham City Hospital for further care.