I Livestreamed My Smear Test

Anna Cribb, 42, wants her intimate video to save as many lives as possible.

- Lianne La Borde And Harriet Rose-Gale

Staring at my test results, my heart began thumping.

‘What does it all mean?’ I asked the doctor, panicking inside. I was in my mid-20s, and a routine smear test had found abnormal cells. Do I have cervical cancer? I worried. Am I dying? It was terrifying.

My doctor explained that abnormal cells aren’t harmful, and often go away on their own. But, without any treatment, there was a risk that they could turn into cervical cancer.

‘This is why it’s important to have a regular smear test,’ explained the doctor.

I needed laser treatment to cauterise the abnormal cells, and a colposcopy to examine my cervix. After, to my relief, I was given the all-clear, but I knew that the simple, routine cervical screening could have saved my life. As the years passed, I became a single mum to three boys – Rocco was born in May 2006, Diggory, in September two years later – and I made sure I never missed a smear test. I couldn’t risk not seeing my boys grow up as they were my world.

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