'I had a normal smear test - three years later I had cervical cancer'

"I had a perfectly normal smear and in three-and-a-half years, I had gone from being healthy to having cervical cancer."

Sophie Bagnall, 38, from Ironbridge in Shropshire, was diagnosed with cervical cancer when she was 29 after a routine smear test.

Now eight years cancer-free, she said "nothing compares" to a cancer diagnosis, and urged women to have their test as soon as they are eligible.

It comes as a new cervical screening mobile health hub is heading to Wolverhampton, in hopes of encouraging more eligible women to have their smear tests.

"Every week, month, counts that you're late [to have the test] because with me, it wasn't like I was ten years over a smear, not at all," she said.

"Any slight discomfort or embarrassment that people are fearful of from a smear test is nothing compared to having a cancer diagnosis."

Bagnall, who had part of her treatment at Wolverhampton's New Cross Hospital, had a normal screening at 25.

She was due to have her next test three years later, but it was delayed by about six months because she was heavily pregnant.

It was after this test that a colposcopy - an examination to look at the cervix - revealed that she was likely dealing with cervical cancer.

She told the BBC that if a mobile testing van like the one that will be in Wolverhampton, which does not require an appointment, can help with access to smear tests, women should take it up.

"Anyone that's just delayed having their smear because they can't get out of work, or can't get to the GP or whatever - I think it's just one less barrier, isn't it?"

"There's so many cancers out there that people get, and they get the diagnosis and they have their treatment and they just have to deal with it.

"Cervical cancer is one of the few that can be screened so early... you can't do that for other cancers, so it's just crazy to not take that opportunity to be screened."

NHS England officially changed the routine screening interval for the 25–49 age bracket to every 5 years to align with Scotland and Wales.

Bagnall said after the colposcopy, she was officially diagnosed with cervical cancer. Her daughter was just eight months old at the time.

"All I kept saying and thinking was: 'I have just become a mum and I have a little baby'."

"It's just all I could fathom to say. It was like complete disbelief."

What followed were countless tests and procedures at New Cross to remove the cancer and as little of her womb as possible in the hopes of conceiving in the future.

Eventually, in 2020, Bagnall had a hysterectomy.

"Everything was taken out to lower the risk of residual, recurrent or secondary cancer," she said.

"I've been cancer-free for eight years now, so that it is fantastic, I was signed off, so to speak, when I got to between five and six years.

"But then with the hysterectomy and the ovary removal, I went into surgical menopause, so I then started dealing with menopause in my early 30s."

She added: "Dealing with menopause probably has been just as hard as dealing with the cancer itself."

The new mobile screening van in the city will be at All Saints Area Network, All Saints Road, on 29 October from 16:00 to 20:00 BST.

It will then move to WV Active Central on 30 October from 16:00 to 20:00, and finally at Pure Gym, Birmingham Road, on 31 October and 1 November from 10:00 to 14:00.

According to the City of Wolverhampton Council, cervical screening rates in Wolverhampton are below the national average.

Bagnall encouraged women to take up their smears and use the screening hub if eligible.

"I would rather feel slightly embarrassed, or be inconvenienced, or have a small bit of discomfort for 30 seconds than face cancer and the whole aftermath of gynaecological cancer as well."

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