A 24-year-old mother has died from cervical cancer after being denied a smear test because she was too young.
Rachel Sarjantson, 24, who was due to marry in March, battled the disease for a year before her death which her family has described as 'completely avoidable'.
The legal age for a smear test is 25 and her grieving family have now called for the age limit to be lowered to prevent further deaths.
Her mother, Lisa Rich, said: 'She didn't need to suffer this. It was tragic and completely unavoidable. It shouldn't be happening in this country'.
Rachel Sarjantson, 24, has died from cervical cancer after being denied a smear test as she was too young
When Miss Sarjantson was finally given a smear test, it was too late as she had already been diagnosed with aggressive cancer that had taken over her body.
After a hysterotomy last summer and four weeks of radiotherapy, doctors thought she was in the clear.
But in April, she was told the cancer had returned and by that point her body was too weak to undergo chemotherapy treatment.
She was transferred to hospital on June 30 and remained there until her death on August 12
Miss Sarjantson, from Blackpool, had been due to marry her fiancé Karl Hyde in March until her illness forced them to cancel.
The mother-of-one, an early years practitioner, was so devoted to her 20-month-old son Ronnie she even timed her radiotherapy treatment on the morning of his first birthday so he could still have a party in the evening.
Her mother, Lisa, said: 'She was a loving person and very close with her little boy. Throughout the whole thing, she remained positive.
'She never gave in and made a bucket list because as far as she was concerned she was going to beat it.'
She added: 'She was trying to plan camping trips. She really wanted to get better and to carry on - as far as she was concerned that's what she was going to do.
'Even when the doctors said you don't have to have any more operations if you don't want, she said "no, that would be giving in'".
Mr Hyde, a corporal in the army, has now transferred to the second battalion, Duke of Lancaster's regiment, based at Weeton, so he can be at home to look after their son.
Her family are now campaigning to lower the age limit for cervical screening and said a simple procedure could have prevented the tumour developing.
Her sister, Zoe, 28, who worked with Rachel, said: 'If the age limit had been lowered already, she might still be here.
'So many young girls are dying of it. Maybe in time they can help other mums, for their children's sake if not anything else.'
About 3,000 cases of cervical cancer are diagnosed each year in the UK, which amounts to 2 per cent of all cancers diagnosed in women.
Cervical cancer often has no symptoms in its early stages but the most common is irregular bleeding, in between periods, after sex or after the menopause.
In Scotland, the lower age limit for cervical screening is 20 - but it is set to rise to 25 next year.
The mother-of-one, an early years practitioner, was so devoted to her 20-month-old son Ronnie she even timed her radiotherapy treatment on the morning of his first birthday so he could still have a party in the evening
In 2003, the Advisory Committee on Cervical Cancer advised increasing the minimum screening age from 20 to 25.
Five years later, the NHS began offering 12 and 13-year-old girls the HPV vaccination to protect against the virus responsible for 99 per cent of cervical cancer cases.
A spokesman from Public Health England said screening women under the age of 25 may do more harm than good.
She said: 'Women below the age of 25 often undergo natural and harmless changes in the cervix that screening would identify as cervical abnormalities.
'Despite this, cervical cancer is very rare in this age group. In most cases these abnormalities resolve themselves without any need for treatment.
'Research has shown if women suffer unnecessary treatment, this could have an adverse effect on their future childbearing.'
Prior to Miss Sarjantson's death, friends had began raising money to help cover the costs of her respite and recovery.
The money was used to pay for her funeral.
A recent petition to lower the screening age limit to 16 received more than 300,000 signatures.
In a similar case, Jade Pateman, 21, from County Durham, was diagnosed with terminal cervical cancer after she was deemed too young to have the routine smear test.
She was told in May she had between 18 months and two years to live after being given the devastating diagnosis.
She believes that had she been offered the test, it would have stopped the cancer spreading and saved her life.
Elsewhere Siobhan Galbraith, 21, a mother-of-one was finally diagnosed with cervical cancer in July after being told three times she could not have a smear test because she was too young.
She said she was denied the test on every occasion and is now receiving radiotherapy - leaving her unable to have more children.
ERVICAL SCREENING PROGRAMME
Being screened regularly means any abnormal changes in the cells of the cervix can be identified at an early stage and, if necessary, treated to prevent cancer developing.
It is estimated that early detection and treatment can prevent up to 75 per cent of cervical cancers.
A cervical screening test (previously known as a smear test) is a method of detecting abnormal cells on the cervix. The cervix is the entrance to the womb from the vagina.
Women of all ages can develop cervical cancer and about 3,000 cases are diagnosed each year.
It is most common in sexually active women aged between 30 and 45 and rare in women under 25.
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