I’m not scared, I’m heartbroken

Courageous Cervical Check victim Emma reveals that cancer has spread to her brain and, in some ways, she wishes ‘it was all over’

‘I’m dying and I don’t need to die’

CERVICAL cancer patient Emma Mhic Mhathúna has revealed that her cancer has spread to her brain, saying ‘I am not scared, just heartbroken’.

‘I found out today the cancer has spread to my brain’, she wrote on Facebook.

‘I’m not scared just heartbroken. I love my life, my children and all of you my new-found friends.’

Ms Mhic Mhathúna received the devastating news after a routine scan checking her tumours revealed that they had increased in size and spread to the left side of her brain.

She told RTÉ Radio the tumours would likely result in a loss of concentration and speech and cause her to have seizures.

The brave single parent said that she was not scared of dying but was upset at losing control over her life and the impact her diagnosis would have on her children.

‘It’s the not knowing and trying to explain to my children, if I have a seizure this is what you have to do, and this is who you have to ring,’ she said.

‘I don’t like how quick it’s going... In some ways I just wish it was all over.’

She explained that she had decided to tell her children everything as recommended by the Irish Cancer Society to prevent any upset caused by secret-keeping.

‘I just tell them in a funny way,’ she explained. ‘I told them that they might be delighted that there may come a day that Mammy won’t be talking – I talk a lot – that there will be no more giving out,’ she said.

Because of her Crohn’s disease Ms Mhic Mhathúna has been unable to receive the same powerful treatment as Vicky Phelan, who is also a victim of the cervical smear scandal.

Ms Mhic Mhathúna told listeners that the disease limited her treatment options and made her unsuitable for the immunotherapy drug Pembrolizumab.

‘They’re trying to see if there are any clinical trials available for people with Crohn’s but, at the moment, there’s not, so that’s why I had my other scan.

‘Obviously, because I don’t have treatment my tumours have gotten significantly bigger,’ she said.

The mother of five said she was unsuitable for many drugs as they could cause a flare up of her Crohn’s disease leaving her unable to process food and with a weakened immune system.

Despite her own difficult situation, Ms Mhic Mhathúna said she hopes that lessons will be learned from the issues in CervicalCheck.

‘I just hope they make changes in the test that this doesn’t happen to other women,’ she said. ‘I wouldn’t wish this on anyone.’ Ms Mhic Mhathúna was diagnosed with cervical cancer in 2016 despite having been given the all-clear in a 2013 smear test, which was later revealed to have been misread.

In an emotional interview with RTÉ’s Morning Ireland in the days following the breaking of the controversy, she said that telling her children was the hardest thing that she has ever done.

‘I had to collect them from school early and tell them that I’m dying,’ she told listeners.

‘I’m dying and I don’t need to die, and my children are going to be without me and I’m going to be without them.’

She said she was unsure if her youngest child, who is just two, would even be able to remember his mother.

Last week, Ms Mhic Mhathúna settled her case for damages against the Health Service Executive and US laboratory, Quest Diagnostics, for €7.5million.

Wearing a red gown chosen by her children, which she told reporters symbolised confidence, the 37-year-old said that she took legal action for the sake of her children.

Ms Mhic Mhathúna and Mrs Phelan were just two of 221 women who had their smear tests misread, 18 of whom have since died.

Philip Nolan – Page 14 Jane.Fallon.Griffin@dailymail.ie