Young mother dies following year-long battle with cervical cancer because she was too young for a smear test

A young mother has died from cervical cancer after being classed as too young for a smear test which could have saved her life.

Rachel Sarjantson, 24, 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 despite her being called early for the test, it was too late as the aggressive cancer had already taken over her body.

Her mum, Lisa Rich, 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."

Early years practitioner Rachel, of Blackpool, Lancs., was so devoted to her 20-month-old son that she even timed her radiotherapy treatment on the morning of his first birthday, so that he could still have a party in the evening.

She was due to marry her fiancé Karl Hyde in March until her illness forced them to cancel, and she sadly died on August 12, just hours after doctors told her there was nothing more they could do.

Lisa said: "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'."

Cruelly, despite Rachel being called for a smear test months before most women are classed as eligible, it was too late as she had already been diagnosed with the aggressive cancer.

After a radical 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 withstand the chemotherapy treatment.

She was admitted to hospital for the final time on June 30 and she remained there until she was transferred to Trinity Hospice in Blackpool, Lancs., on August 12, where she died the same day.

Her family are now campaigning to lower the age limit for cervical screening and prevent other young woman dying as Rachel did.

Lisa said: "She didn't need to suffer this - it was tragic and completely avoidable.

"It shouldn't be happening in this country."

Had the symptoms been spotted earlier, her family say, a simple procedure could have prevented the tumour developing.

In Scotland, the lower age limit for cervical screening is currently 20 -. but is due to rise to 25 next year.