A 19-year-old teenage model from Eastham died from cervical cancer after doctors refused to give her treatment, saying she was still too young, according to reports.
Sophie Jones was initially diagnosed with Crohn's Disease after she complained of stomach pains. Last November, she was diagnosed with cervical cancer and was admitted to a hospital when her condition worsened. Jones died the morning after.
Her sister, Stephanie Jones, said she had vowed to fight the disease until the end.
"She was still in high spirits even on the morning she died; she was the life and soul of everything, and just lit the place up," she said.
Stephanie said her sister was well loved by her friends and had a calming influence on everyone around her.
"It's totally wrong that people are getting refused even when they know something isn't right. Everybody knows their own body, and Sophie knew she wasn't well," she told the Daily Mail.
Sophie's family and friends have launched an online petition demanding that the minimum age for a smear test be lowered to 16. As of late, the lowest age limit for routine testing in England is 25 owing to the rare nature of the disease.
In the United States, smear tests are recommended among women at least 21 years of age.
According to Cancer Research UK's most recent statistics, no girl below the age of 20 has died from cervical cancer.
"It is very rare for women who are still in their teens to be diagnosed with cervical cancer; there have been around 25 in the last decade," Dr. Claire Knight, health information manager at Cancer Research UK, said. "But it's important to go to your GP if you notice anything unusual, like pain or discomfort during sex, bleeding in between periods, after sex or after menopause, or unpleasant vaginal discharge."
