Who was Vicky Phelan? Vicky Phelan was an Irish icon. She was a campaigner on behalf of the women, including herself, who were affected by the cervical screening scandal. Over 200 women were impacted by this botched cancer test.
In 2011 Vicky went for her first Pap smear. It showed that she had no abnormalities, but she was showing a lot of symptoms for cervical cancer. One of those symptoms was having a lot of lower back pain. Cervical cancer is a life threatening disease. It mainly affects the cervix, the entrance to the womb.
Three years later with her symptoms worsening, she went to the hospital and was sadly diagnosed with cervical cancer. Ms Phelan then exposed the CervicalCheck screening scandal in Ireland after discovering she was not told that she had been given incorrect smear test results. As the doctor told her she only has 12 months to live, She wanted to do everything in her power to get justice for all the other women who were similarly given the wrong results.
Soon after her diagnosis she flew to Maryland in the USA to undergo an experimental treatment “Pembro 2.0”. It is a type of immunotherapy and works by helping your immune system kill cancer cells. While Vicky was in the USA she decided that she was going to sue the company who was responsible for giving her the wrong results.
In 2018 she carried out her plan and sued the Health Service Excutive and the company they paid to process and analyse the tests. The case ended up in High court and she settled for $2.5 million (€2.3 million). She was delighted that she had finally gotten justice not only for herself but for all the other women that were fighting for their lives after the health service failed them.
Tragically Vicky Phelan died on November 14th 2022. She will forever be remembered for her work, and her tireless campaign for justice.