18 January 2024 , 11:37
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A young mum who was denied a smear test despite showing many of the symptoms of cervical cancer as she was “too young” has died.
Jody Oxley was 22 when she visited her doctor in 2017 as she was experiencing abnormal bleeding around a year after giving birth to her second child. She had stumbled across a Facebook post on cervical cancer and realised she had many of the same symptoms. However, a GP brushed away her fears and told her she was too young for an NHS smear test which is offered after the age of 25.
Frustrated, Jody borrowed some money from her mother for a private test at Park Hill Hospital in Doncaster and her worst fears were confirmed when she was diagnosed with stage 2B locally advanced cervical cancer and a 5.6cm tumour on her cervix. Doctors told her if they had not found it she would have been dead within nine months.
Instead, she fought the disease for seven years, undergoing several operations, but sadly died in January this year aged 29 after enjoying one final Christmas with her family.
Jody had asked for a smear test when she was 22 but told she was too young (Rebekah Millar)
She was diagnosed with cancer when she was 22 (Rebekah Millar)Jody’s brother, Owen Oxley, 28, said the loss was heartbreaking for the family, especially her two children Marshall, 11 and eight-year-old Lily. He told YorkshireLive: “If the doctors had listened to her and given Jody the smear test she was begging for then they could have caught it a lot sooner and she might still be here today.”
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“They’re managing ok because they’ve got each other, but of course it’s hard. No eight or 11-year-old should have to lose a parent. The kids, saw Jody spend the last six years of her life in and out of the hospital. It became the norm for them - which is so sad. Mummy goes into the hospital, she comes out for a bit and then she goes back. Even when she went in there for the final time, the kids weren’t phased because it had become their normal routine - that’s just not the way it should be.”
“In that last year, there were a lot of ifs and buts. The doctors wouldn’t exactly say that it was cancer, they just kept referring to it as a ‘mass’, but deep down - Jody knew what it was. The mass was affecting the tubes to her kidney and small bowels but the doctors said they didn’t want to operate because it might have left her paralysed. She’d already had so many life-altering operations that they didn’t want to risk doing that.”
Jody Oxley, with her children Marshall and Lily, died of cancer last month (Rebekah Millar)Her family are keen to push the same message Jody was so passionate about sharing for young women to be given cervical screenings under the age of 25 if they suspect they have symptoms of cancer. They have since launched a GoFundMe to raise £5,000 in order to cover the costs of her funeral and give Jody “the send-off she deserves.” Owen added: “My mum shouldn’t have had to lose a child at that age, let alone have to worry about the costs of a funeral.”
Writing on the fundraising page Owen’s partner Rebekah Miller wrote: “She was unbelievably brave throughout her whole journey and I know this news will touch so many hearts. It’s an extremely hard time for all her family, but knowing that she's at peace and no longer in pain, gives some comfort.
“She will always be a huge piece of our hearts and will never be forgotten. Not just for how incredibly strong she is, but for being the most genuine, kind-hearted person that we’ll ever meet. We know she’ll always be watching over us all, and we’ll see her in the next life. We love you, Jody. The world feels emptier without you in it.”