Limerick: Ireland's cervical cancer campaigner Vicky Phelan has died. They had been battling the disease for years. He died in the early hours of 14-11-2022 morning at Milford Hospice, Limerick. Vicky, 48, has two children, Amelia (16) and Darragh (10).
She wrote a memoir, Overcoming, in 2019, which became a Post Book of the Year, and was named one of the BBC's 100 Women in 2018. A documentary about her life called 'Vicky' was recently screened. Born in Waterford in 1974, Phelan lived in Limerick and has always worked in the education sector.
In 2014, Phelan was diagnosed with cervical cancer. She had a smear test done in 2011, before being diagnosed three years later. She later went to court after a one-off reading of her medical record in September 2017 showed her diagnosis had been delayed due to an incorrect smear reading in 2011. In April 2018, they settled a High Court action against Clinical Pathology Labs US for €2.5 million over liability.
President Michael D. Higgins said in a statement:
It is with the deepest sense of sadness that people across Ireland and beyond will have heard of the death of Vicky Phelan. All of us who had the privilege of meeting Vicky will have been struck by the powerful inner strength and dignity with which she not only faced her own illness, but with the sense of commitment to the public good and the rights of others with which she campaigned.
Padraig McKeon, spokesperson for the 221+ Cervical Check patient support group, said: "Today we lost our biggest sister. We are broken. She told us this day would come, but she fought so hard and so well that we couldn't bring ourselves to think it would happen. He said he raised his voice in 2018 because Vicky wanted those in power and those responsible to learn from their mistakes.
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