Quick smear test saved mum’s life

Two minutes of slight discomfort saved the life of Esther Hope when a routine smear test for cervical cancer came back with an abnormal result.

The 36-year-old mother of two was “harassed” by friends to get a smear test in 2012. Fortunately, she relented.

“It was after I had my second boy, a friend of mine had been harassing me to get my smear [test] done. I eventually made an appointment, not expecting anything, but I got a letter saying there was an abnormality and that I needed to get a biopsy done and then couple of weeks later I was called and told the result was high grade-three pre-cancerous.