'Don't delay smear tests, my children lost their mum', says cervical cancer campaigning widower

Too many women are nervous about getting a cervical screening and more needs to be done, urgently, to allay their fears.

That's the message from a father from the Scottish Borders, who lost his wife to cervical cancer.

According to Cancer Research UK, at least two women die from the disease every day despite it being one of the most preventable cancers. 

Andrew Matthewson from Kelso - whose wife, Fiona, died at the age of 30 - has made it his mission to ensure no other family goes through what his has.

"She was healthy, she was just an average person," he said about the mother of his two children.

"We had our kids quite closely together and because I was in the Air Force we were moving around a lot and by the time we had had the second child, it was six months later she was invited for a smear, which she attended because that's what she does and that was when it picked up the abnormal cells. "

Fiona died of cervical cancer at the age of 30.

"It affects us every day. My two children are going to grow up without a mother because of cancer; our whole lives have had to change. I've lost livelihood, career, in a very short space of time."

January 17-23 is Cervical Cancer Prevention Week, designed to raise awareness of the illness. Almost all cases are caused by human papillomavirus (HPV).

Young women are now vaccinated against it but it's not recommended for those over 26-years-old. In Scotland, it is offered to all S1 pupils, including boys.

Andrew said: "They (the younger generation) are just not developing cervical cancer, which is fantastic news but there's still an entire generation that missed that window and they're the ones that are potentially going to get the cervical cancer and they're the ones that need to go and get checked."

He added: "Boys can unknowingly pass it to girls, I think them getting the vaccine is a great idea. It'll certainly improve the chances for girls."

Andrew also said that Fiona's chances might have been different if she had been screened earlier.

Others do not like the procedure and put it off but he is urging women not to do this because it may save their lives.

Last year a petition he launched on this subject was debated in the Scottish Parliament.

He said: "It was hard to listen to that actually but to hear so many around one table all discussing the one point which was more needs to be done towards cervical screening, raising the awareness and battling the stigma."

For more information on cervical cancer, click here.