Sophie Short case study

Attending her regular cervical screening appointment saved Sophie Short’s life in 2019.

Sophie had booked in for her routine smear test in February 2019, expecting as usual for the results to be clear and to carry on life as normal.

The now 34-year-old had never had any abnormal results from her cervical screening and was experiencing no symptoms when she visited her GP in Coventry.

Sophie’s life was then rocked in May 2019 when she was asked to go to University Hospital Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust for a colposcopy – a more detailed cervical examination – following the discovery of severely abnormal cells, or CIN 3 cells.

The results from that procedure confirmed the worst for Sophie as she was diagnosed with an aggressive cervical cancer. Doctors at University Hospital, Coventry, suggested Sophie have a full hysterectomy, but the then 31-year-old was keen to avoid that.

She was then referred to University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust for a radical trachelectomy, where the surgeon removes the cancer without the woman losing the ability to have children.

She said: “It’s really important to book your cervical screening appointment when you are invited, had I not gone for mine I might not be here today.

“I lead an active lifestyle and had not had any symptoms, I thought everything was normal. It was really scary to find out something was wrong, but it all moved very quickly and thankfully I’ve been able to make a full, cancer free recovery.

“There is a still a stigma around cervical screening, about it hurting or being uncomfortable, but it is extremely important to go and get checked out. I really do dread to think what would have happened if I had put my appointment off, honestly it saved my life.”