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Irish Mirror
Irish Mirror
Entertainment
Clare McCarthy

Laura Whitmore urges women to 'get checked' as she heads for smear test days after Vicky Phelan's death

Laura Whitmore urges women to "get checked" as she headed for a routine cervical smear test day on Tuesday.

The Bray native, 37, took to Instagram to remind other women to do the same after she admitted she had been "putting it off".

This comes the day after the death of Vicky Phelan, who passed away on Monday from cervical cancer.

READ MORE: Una Healy hits back at cruel trolls after being targeted online

The former Love Island presenter made a post on Instagram, writing: "Routine cervical check this morning. Had been putting it off but just did it!

"Some things you have to make time for. So if you've been putting it off, go do it please!!"

Laura was praised as a "role model" for sending out the important message (Instagram/@thewhitmore)

People took to the comments underneath her post to praise her for the important message. One woman wrote: "So important especially after what happened the women In Ireland."

Another said: "Fantastic role model, ladies please go to your appointments. I got diagnosed with cervical cancer in Feb this year, I was so lucky it [was] caught early. I have now been given the all clear... Just go for it!"

In Ireland, women between the ages of 25 and 65 are offered a free HPV cervical screening test every three to five years and helps prevent cervical cancer.

Irish Cervical Check campaigner Vicky Phelan passed away in the early hours of Monday morning, aged 48, surrounded by her family at Milford Hospice in Limerick.

In 2014, Vicky was diagnosed with cervical cancer after undergoing a smear test in 2011 showing no abnormalities.

The mother-of-two went on to expose the CervicalCheck screening scandal in Ireland, after discovering she was not told she had been given incorrect smear test results.

She later settled a High Court action for €2.5m with Clinical Pathology Labs US, without admission of liability on the part of the laboratory or health services.

However, she refused to sign a non-disclosure agreement and it was discovered that over 220 other women could have benefitted from earlier treatment. Dozens of women have since died as a result of the scandal.

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