A 24 year old mother has died of cervical cancer because she was not eligible to have a smear test.
The legal age limit in England for a smear test is 25, meaning Rachel Sarjanston was too young to be called for the routine test.
By the time she was invited to make an appointment under the cervical screening programme she had already been diagnosed with aggressive cervical cancer.
The early years practitioner from Blackpool battled the disease for a year, undergoing a radical hysterectomy and four weeks of radiotherapy.
She was given the all clear, but sadly the cancer returned in April this year and she died just four months later. She is survived by her fiancé and 20-month old son.
“Completely avoidable”
Her family has described her death as “completely avoidable”, saying that an earlier smear test would have detected the early cancer growth and saved her life.
They are now campaigning to have the cervical screening programme’s age limit lowered.
Rachel’s sister Zoe said: “If the age limit had been lowered already, she might still be here.”
“So many young girls are dying of it. Maybe in time they can help other mums, for their children’s sake if not anything else.”
There have been previous calls to lower the age limit, but medical experts have so far resisted pleas, saying women under the age of 25 are prone to false positive results.
Delayed diagnosis of cervical cancer
If you or your loved one has suffered a poor outcome because of a delayed diagnosis of cervical cancer, you need to talk to a solicitor.
It may be that you were under the age of 25 and experiencing the symptoms of cervical cancer, but medical practitioners refused to perform a smear test.
Alternatively you may be over the age of 25, but doctors failed to recognise your symptoms or analyse test results.
Whatever the circumstances, if you would like to talk to a lawyer about a missed cancer diagnosis, please contact us at Glynns Solicitors.
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