A teenage cancer sufferer from Rhymney, who was wrongly told she had a sexually transmitted infection, has petitioned the Welsh Government to lower the age women are called for smear tests.
Jessica Bradford was 18 when she was diagnosed with cervical cancer after doctors originally said she was too young to contract the disease and put her symptoms down to thrush.
Miss Bradford, now 19, is unable to have children after she underwent five bouts of chemotherapy and 3o radiotherapies.
Women in Wales between the age of 20 and 64 used to be called for NHS smear tests every three years, but the age was raised to 24 years and six months in September 2013.
Miss Bradford and her mother Julie handed a 500 name strong petition into the Welsh Assembly yesterday, June 16.
The petition read: “My 18-year-old daughter has cervical cancer and we do not want this to happen to any other women just because of the age limit on smear tests.
“We would like to call on the National Assembly for Wales to urge the Welsh Government to bring the age down on the tests from 25 to 18.”
The mother and daughter are also petitioning the UK Government on the issue – with signatures on change.org reaching more than 108,000 so far.
Julie Bradford said her daughter has finished treatment but has regular check ups to make sure the cancer hasn’t returned.
She said: “It feels like we’ve got a lot of people behind her as a lot of youngsters under the age of 25 who we’ve met are no longer here. That’s why we are doing it because Jessica was just 18.
“We want early prevention because if it’s caught earlier it’s preventable and if those young girls were caught earlier and had the chance they might still be here.”
