A young mother diagnosed with terminal cervical cancer after being denied a smear test because of her age had died at just 22.

Jade Pateman, from County Durham, who has a two year-old son called Oscar, developed cervical cancer at the end of 2014 but was only diagnosed last May.
Last summer doctors warned she had between 18 months and two years to live.

But the disease progressed quicker than predicted and she passed away at home last Thursday, surrounded by devastated family and friends.

Before her death Miss Pateman had campaigned for the cervical screening age to be lowered from 25 to 20, creating an online petition.

She believed had had she been offered the test, it would have saved her life.

Instead they look for abnormalities that have the potential to develop into cancer at a later date.
After launching the petition Miss Pateman had said: 'There are too many people being told, "sorry, we can't help you".

'I believe if I had been given the cervical screening when I was 20, I could have had the abnormal cells removed and be fine now.

'Instead, because I was classed as being too young, the cells developed into cancer and now it's spread around my body.

'It only takes a minute for one person to wake up and realise what is going on.

'I mentioned it to the staff when I've been in hospital and they say they agree, but that's not enough, it's got to come from the top.

'That's why I started the petition. I know that there's nothing that can be done for me now and I've accepted that I'm never going to grow old, but it can save other women.

'They say it does more harm than good to be tested younger than 25, but how? It's caused me more harm not being screened.'

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.
She was treated with antibiotics for an inflamed cervix and when further tests came back clear she was referred to a colposcopy clinic.

But further tests revealed a 6cm tumour on her cervix which had already spread to the lymph nodes in her stomach, chest and neck.

Miss Pateman was as determined to prolong her life for the sake of her son and underwent chemotherapy, which finished just before Christmas.

But three weeks ago, she was told the cancer had spread to her liver and there was nothing else medics could do.

As her condition deteriorated rapidly, loved ones hastily set about making her final wish come true by organising a blessing ceremony with her boyfriend Simon.

The couple had been living together, but Miss Pateman returned to her family home for her final days.

Last Wednesday evening, close family gathered round for a 'hen night' - with the blessing ceremony was due to take place the following day.

Tragically, at 5.30am that morning, Miss Pateman passed away.

Her mother, Yvonne Claude, 49, said: 'Jade said to me "mam, I'm so excited about tonight (the hen night) and tomorrow (the blessing), but I can't get my body to show it".

'That was one of the saddest things. She had seen everybody that day, including Oscar, her dad, and my two sisters.

'Maybe she was ready to go.'I think her body gave up, but her mind hadn't.

'She was still Jade and we continued treating her like that, laughing and joking on with her all the time.'

Ms Claude said she was extremely proud of the way her daughter had used her own diagnosis to try and help others.

She said: 'It was typical of Jade to still be thinking of other people - that's how she was.

'I was so proud of her that she could make something positive out of something so negative in her life.'

The mother-of-six described her eldest daughter as being 'a little monkey' during her teenage years, who developed into a 'lovely, responsible young lady' after turning 17.

She said it was hard seeing Oscar for the first time after Jade's death but said he was too young to understand what was going on.