A Cumbrian mum, diagnosed with cervical cancer following a routine smear, is backing a Cancer Research UK drive to fund more life-saving advances.
Sarah Farr, of Barrow, was trying for a second child when abnormal cells were found at her cervical screening appointment.
Following further tests she was devastated to be diagnosed with cervical cancer.
She was diagnosed the day before her husband’s 40th birthday and when their daughter Maisie was just six.
Sarah, who was aged 33 at the time, had surgery called a radical trachelectomy which removes some of the cervix and part of the uterus with the aim of preserving fertility.
Sarah, a health visitor, had to spend three months off work. She and husband Eugene told Maisie that she’d had a poorly tummy and needed an operation.
Sarah was warned it could take her some time to conceive and she would be eligible for fertility treatment. However, Sarah fell pregnant naturally with baby Tillie.
Their eldest daughter Maisie is now 15 and has had the HPV (human papillomavirus) vaccine at school. Six-year-old Tillie will also have the injection when she’s old enough.
Sarah credits Cancer Research UK with helping to rewrite her future after researchers helped prove the value of cervical screening, which now prevents thousands of deaths every year.
And the charity’s research led to the development of the HPV vaccine, which is expected to prevent almost up to 90% of cervical cancer cases in the UK.
With an ageing population, and cancer cases on the rise, Sarah is urging people across Cumbria to donate monthly to the charity to help fund more big breakthroughs like this.
Latest figures reveal around an estimated 865,000 new cancer cases will be diagnosed in the North West over the next 15 years and, by 2040, it’s projected one person in the UK will be diagnosed with the disease every two minutes. In the 1970s, it was every four minutes.
Sarah, now 42, said: “The statistics say it all and that’s why we must act now. To save lives tomorrow, Cancer Research UK needs our support today.
“I understand this more than most, as my cancer was detected at an early stage through screening and therefore treatment was relatively straightforward.
“But it was still a tremendous shock to be told I had cancer when I was so young and trying for another baby.
“My husband and I were shattered by the news, but we immediately got into the mode of being strong and determined to cope with what was coming.
“When it came to Maisie’s HPV jab, she completely understood why it was needed and how important it is in the light of what I went through.
“I’m a huge advocate for the jab as it could save so many lives in the future.
“Cancer Research UK has given hope to thousands of families like ours. Advances like this wouldn’t be possible without vital funds to keep the charity’s scientists working towards more eureka moments. So, I hope people will give what they can.”
Donate to Cancer Research UK at cruk.org/breakthroughs
