Cervical Cancer Kills 25yrs Old Graduate – Pleas for Smear Test Denied!
You must have heard of cancer as an incurable disease leading to death if not timely diagnosed and treated. The same happened to 25-year-old Amber Rose Cliff from Sunderland who died due to cervical cancer, the second most common cancer affecting women, on 8 Jan.
According to reports, Amber was diagnosed with cervical cancer four years back. Her family claims she had pleaded for a smear test 20 times, but she was repeatedly ignored since she was under 25 and, according to current policies, too young to get the test. And eventually, at the age of 21, she resorted to paying for a private screening where she was diagnosed with cervical cancer. However, she lost her life from the fetal disease earlier this month.
The incident sparked widespread calls for the approval of the option to have smear tests for women under the age of 25, because, currently NHS has been carrying out routine smear test once women reach 25. Dozens gathered at Sunderland Crematorium from 9 am along with grief-stricken friends and family members for her funeral to pay crematorium on last Monday. Many mourners wore pink uniforms, as a symbol to raise cancer awareness, at the procession.
She had gone through radiotherapy and chemotherapy and consequently had to have surgical operations to remove certain parts of her reproductive system, being informed that she would no longer be able to conceive children. However, despite periods of treatment procedures and recovery, cervical cancer subsequently spread to her lungs, throat and lymph nodes. Though exhibiting the symptoms of the disease since her late teens, the cancer had already taken severe form until its diagnosis.
According to Cancer Research UK, thousands of females are diagnosed with cervical cancer annually, disproportionately affecting younger women. But, most health experts agree that routinely screening ladies under 25 would be ineffective.
Her brother, Josh, told that she had begun showing the symptoms since her eighteens and gone to the healthcare experts on several occasions but a test was denied every time. Her family is fighting to establish Amber’s Law.
Furthermore, a petition has already been set up following her death, attracting more than 185,500 signatures. If you believe the same, sign up the petition today and contribute to saving more lives.
