'We know our own bodies': Leona Macken urges audit of CervicalCheck after cancer diagnosis

After two misdiagnosed smear tests, Cork woman Leona Macken is battling stage 4 cancer and calling for urgent reform

Leona Macken, who was diagnosed with advanced cervical cancer in 2023 after two misdiagnosed smear tests, first in 2016 and again in 2020, allowing her cancer to develop untreated. Photo: Moya Nolan

Leona Macken pulled out a chair and sat in the middle of her kitchen with her husband Alan and their two young children.

It was April of this year, and with her hair falling out due to her cancer treatment, Leona was determined to turn a traumatic situation into something lighthearted for her family.