An aspiring model who was turned down
for a smear test because doctors said she was too young to get cervical
cancer has died from the disease.
Sophie
Jones, 19, from Eastham, near Liverpool, was initially told she had
Crohn's Disease when she went to the doctor complaining of stomach pains
last February.
But
she was diagnosed with cervical cancer last November after being
admitted to hospital when her condition worsened, and died early on
Saturday morning.
Now her
family and friends have launched an online petition calling for smear
tests to be offered to women from the age of 16, rather than 25.
Entitled 'Sophie's Choice', the petition has been signed by more than
45,000 people since its publication on Saturday,and 10,000 of them in a
three-hour period this morning.
+11
+11
'The life and soul of everything': Sophie Jones, 19, has died of cervical cancer after being refused a smear test
+11
Last Facebook picture: Miss Jones, who posted this photo two weeks ago, died early on Saturday morning
While the disease is the most common
cancer in women under 35, it is so rare in those under 25 that screening
for it is not offered to women until they are 25.
Today
Miss Jones' mother, Peri Jones, 47, said it was 'just ridiculous' that
smear tests were only offered routinely to those over 25.
She
said: 'At the very least people should be given a choice. The cost of
what Sophie has been through on the NHS is far more than a smear test -
however many months ago would have been.
'Sophie knew something was wrong, she knew her body was telling her something but because of her age it wasn't even considered.'
She added: 'She was the person that kept us all together as a family, stopped us falling out and was there for everyone.'
She
said her daughter, who did PR for nightclubs, had been trying to launch
her modelling career when she was finally diagnosed with cancer, by
which time it was too late.
Mrs
Jones said: 'Sophie was amazing - she was more concerned about all of
us than she was about herself. Her positive attitude was incredible.'
Sophie' sister, Stephanie Jones, said she had vowed to fight the disease 'to the end'.
She
said: 'She was still in high spirits even on the morning she died; she
was the life and soul of everything, and just lit the place up.
+11
Killer disease: Miss Jones, from Eastham, was admitted to hospital in November after her condition worsened
+11
+11
Model: The teenager had suffered from stomach pains and was initially told she probably had Crohn's Disease
+11
Miss Jones, pictured with her boyfriend Jake Molyneux, was 'in high spirits' the day she died, her sister said
'She was always a very calming influence on everyone around her, and she loved being with her friends.'
She added: 'This should never, ever have happened to her. Sophie said she would fight it all the way to the end.
'It’s
totally wrong that people are getting refused even when they know
something isn’t right. Everybody knows their own body, and Sophie knew
she wasn’t well.'
The family had been fundraising to take Miss Jones on a final holiday, but she died before she had the chance to go.
Now her family and friends have launched an online petition demanding that the
minimum age for having a smear test be lowered
to 16.
The
lower age limit for routine testing in England is 25 because the
condition is so rare. No girls under the age of 20 died from the disease
between 2009 and 2011, according to Cancer Research UK’s most recent
statistics.
Dr
Claire Knight, health information manager at Cancer Research UK, told
MailOnline young women should be reassured that cervical cancer is so
rare in women under 25.
She
said: 'It is very rare for women who are still in their teens to be
diagnosed with cervical cancer; there have been around 25 in the last
decade.
'But it’s
important to go to your GP if you notice anything unusual, like pain or
discomfort during sex, bleeding in between periods, after sex or after
the menopause, or unpleasant vaginal discharge.
'It may well be caused by something much less serious than cancer, but it’s a good idea to get it checked.'
The Sophie’s Choice online petition has already collected more than 39,000 signatures since it was started on Saturday.
+11
Miss Jones' family say her death should never have happened and want younger girls to have cervical screening
Family friend Pamela Keelan, who set
up the petition on the day Sophie died, said she hoped to prevent other
girls suffering the same fate.
The
petition reads: 'A friend and amazing young girl, our Sophie has had
her life cut short after experiencing symptoms for over a year and being
in horrendous pain and even asking for a smear.
'But because of her age - 19 - she was refused time and time again and now she has terminal cervical cancer.
'Out of loads of doctors, it took that one to say "We will check you properly", but then it was too late.
'Our
Sophie has been failed in the worst way, and I need 500,000 signatures
to be heard, one million to get this changed hopefully.'
dailymail.co.uk
No comments:
Post a Comment