Mother too scared for a smear test loses cancer battle at 28
A MOTHER who was too scared to go for a smear test has died of cervical cancer aged just 28. Amanda Booth passed away on Good Friday, having been diagnosed with the disease last year.
Her family said she ‘lived for her kids’ – Demilee, 11, Leon, eight, and five-yearold Lucas – and are urging other women not to miss out on the chance to have cervical screening.
After being too frightened to go for her routine smear tests, Mrs Booth was diagnosed with cancer last June when she noticed some abnormal bleeding.
She underwent chemotherapy and radiotherapy, but was later told the disease was terminal and she only had weeks to live.
After being given the devastating news, Mrs Booth said: ‘I would say to all women, “Go and get your smear tests done”. I wish I had.’
Since her death, her family are campaigning for the smear test age to be lowered so that more women are checked for abnormal cells that can lead to cancer if left untreated.
Currently, screening on the NHS in England begins at the age of 25.
Mrs Booth’s cousin, Anne-Marie Stanwick, 29, said: ‘No one should be dying this young of cervical cancer. You just don’t realise how important it is to get a smear. I was scared to have a smear, I’ve had two now and it can be painful, and it is degrading for someone who’s shy, but it’s so important.
‘I had my last one just after Amanda’s diagnosis and she was over the moon when I got the all clear. She was just happy more
‘Loved days out with the family’
people were having them. She knew it was her mistake.’
After she was diagnosed, Mrs Booth, from Middlesbrough, wrote a bucket list which included renewing her wedding vows to her husband David, 29, whom she married three years ago. She also had Demilee and Leon baptised during the ceremony, which took place on Valentine’s Day.
Her husband said the family had managed to go on a final holiday together last month, spending a week staying in a chalet at the Flamingo Land theme park in North Yorkshire.
Although his wife was very unwell by this point, she still managed to enjoy spending time with the children. Mr Booth said: ‘It was awesome, she loved it.’
But after they returned home Mrs Booth took a turn for the worse, and at around 3am on Friday she was admitted to James Cook University Hospital in Mid- dlesbrough. She later died surrounded by her family.
Mrs Stanwick said: ‘Her greatest hobby was telling David what to do, but she also loved days out with the family ... with a picnic or making loom band bracelets with them.
‘She liked partying but she wasn’t a drinker. If she had a glass of Coke and a packet of crisps she was happy.’
Around 3,000 women a year in the UK are diagnosed with cervical cancer. Symptoms of the disease – the most common of which is unusual bleeding – are not always obvious and may not appear until the cancer is advanced.