HER dress was ready, it was the day before the prom and little did she know her classmates had voted her prom queen.

But tragically Lucy Goulding never made it to the ball.

The 16-year-old, who was set to get straight A*s for her GCSEs, was taken seriously ill and died after being rushed to hospital for emergency surgery.

Despite visits to doctors when she was complaining of chronic headaches and dizziness, her problems were written off as a stress related psychological condition.

But only after she had passed away did the authorities who could have saved her realise what was wrong.

Lucy had a brain tumour which had gone undetected by consultants who wanted to discharge her to mental health services.

Her death devastated her school community, the prom at which she would have stood as queen was cancelled and there was an outpouring of mourning across Worthing.

For the teen's family the pain still feels all too recent, but they want to make sure no one else suffers the way they did.

Her mother Antonella Goulding, who still lives at the family home in Ringmer Road, lives with the heartbreak and memories of the last day with her daughter still hurt.

Moments before she fell into a coma, the teenager told her mother she could no longer cope with the pain and wanted to die.

Antonella said to her "No you don't. You are in good hands now. Once they find out what is wrong, you will be alright".

Lucy died of an undiagnosed raised intracranial pressure and accumulation of fluid on the brain due to a brain tumour.

"With the tools available today, Lucy should not have died," Antonella said, "I cannot bring my Lucy back but together we can educate people more widely and ensure that other children don’t suffer the same inhumane ending that Lucy had to endure".

But now they are spearheading a campaign to get a debate in Parliament and further regulation introduced so no one else may have to live with the tragedy they suffered.

They have started a petition to the Government with the aim of reducing the referral time for brain scans and improved awareness of the condition and its symptoms for health professionals and the wider public.

Lucy led a full life and a promising time ahead of her, and at her inquest the coroner said her symptoms were not taken with "sufficient seriousness and neither were ms Goulding’s anxieties."

"Minds were closed to anything else but psychological cause of symptoms," she said, and added if Lucy had been treated in time it was "highly likely she would have been cured”.

The petition has just under 1,000 signatures, but needs 10,000 to get a Government response and 100,000 to get a debate in parliament.

"The last few years have been very hard," Lucy's 46-year-old mother said, "I have been battling two different wars, one is a fight for justice for Lucy - it feels like I have lost that war, but the other is to avoid what happened to Lucy happening to anyone else.

"For a GP or any health professional to feel they have misdiagnosed is horrendous. Yes, accidents happens, and I would not want to be in their shoes, but there were just too many obvious errors.

"For myself I have a guilt which I will carry for the rest of my life, I did not have the knowledge about what was happening to her. The damage is there and it will never go away and all I can do is try to not let any other parents feel this way and not to let any other children die."

Throughout June 2013 Lucy visited the doctors numerous times for consultations, suffering from migraines, vomiting and hot and cold flushes.

At the final consultation with her GP a brain scan was refused as it was felt that she did not present enough evidence of a tumour.

On June 27, in the early hours of the morning, holding her mother's hand, Lucy suffered a seizure, stopped breathing and was rushed by ambulance to Southampton General Hospital to be treated by a neurosurgeon.

But she could not be saved and her life support machine was switched off 9pm that evening.

“There was a lack of knowledge from health professionals and myself,” Antonella said, “Education is power, education for health professionals, education for the parents, information posted in all GP’s surgeries and possibly even schools is what is needed.

“Brain tumours are hard to detect because the early symptoms might be that of normal everyday illnesses.

“Brain tumours are not like any other cancer, they can kill within weeks, you have to act fast. Sometimes GPs lack the information needed and they should listen to the parents.

“Parents see changes in their children and it is important parents get the knowledge about what might be happening”.

The Argus: Antonella Goulding wants to raise awareness of the symptoms of brain tumours.  Picture: Terry Applin

Antonella has also written to GPs asking them about her campaign.

While only a few have replied, those who did were positive. She said they “agreed information should be in surgeries. "They have leaflets for diabetes, leukaemia, but now there should be information on brain tumours as well. They also agreed with the need for early scans and training.”

Antonella said her daughter was an "amazingly talented, strong and determined" teenager whose strength and determination was tested, bravely studying for her GCSEs as she lived with months of intense headaches.

Chatsmore High School is backing Ms Goulding's petition and plans to circulate it round all the other schools in West Sussex as they have just three months to hit the next signature milestone.

Mike Madden, headteacher, said: "I have been teaching 30-odd years and the death of a child is something you never get over, especially a young child with so much promise. She did so well and the nature of how she died was shocking."

He added: "We have a memorial garden in the school which has become a quiet area which is always a constant reminder. She was a very strong character beloved by students and staff."

At the inquest in December 2013, paediatric neurosurgeon Aarbir Chakroborty said the tumour was exceptionally rare. But he said Lucy’s outlook would have been “very different” if it had been diagnosed.

Recording a narrative verdict, assistant coroner Karen Henderson said: “What’s striking is that no one believed Lucy Goulding and Antonella Goulding at any time upon her admission to the point of her collapse.”

To sign the petition visit: petition.parliament.uk/petitions/112372.