A TEACHER who is in the early stages of fighting cervical cancer is calling for more women to attend smear tests.

When 28-year-old Parris Jade Dawson moved to Abu Dhabi in January to become an English teacher, she was not prepared to receive an urgent call telling her that she had a tumour and precancerous cells in her cervix.

Miss Dawson, of Blackburn, was told by a doctor to return to the UK on medical emergency, but having worked so hard to get there, she chose to stay and be treated in Dubai.

She had her cervix and part of her womb removed.

Now she is calling for more awareness about the importance of attending smear tests and thinks the age for tests should be lowered.

The teacher said: “I want other girls to realise how important it is to attend your routine smears. In my eyes, they are too far apart already in the UK and they start very late, too.

“I just want to raise the importance of regular smears and I also believe fiercely that they should be offered at a younger age.”

Miss Dawson attended her screening just weeks before flying to her new home, but a week before the flight, was admitted to hospital for preventative laser treatment after suspicious cells were found in her cervix.

Miss Dawson said: “People dodge smear tests all of the time and take their health for granted. I went because I was conscious of my health, but I know how easily these things can be avoided.

“If I would have had an earlier smear, maybe I wouldn’t have had to have surgery. They have taken my whole cervix away and half of my uterus.”

Around 2,600 women are diagnosed with cervical cancer in England each year and around 690 women die from the disease, which is two deaths every day.

Four-fifths per cent of cervical cancer cases could be prevented if all women attended their smear tests. The age for a first test is set at 25.