Why you need a smear test.

I am aware that a smear test cannot identify Ovarian Cancer but there's no reason not to have one done.

A woman I know has just died. She was 32 and leaves behind a husband and 2 young children.

I used to help run a football club and Sam was one of many volunteers. But Sam always gave that little bit more.

She spent hours begging and borrowing around town for donations for the big fundraising event and when she fell short, she'd dig deep into her own pockets. She qualified as an FA coach doing everything she could to support the club, realising the value of such a club in her local community.

You'd find her on a Saturday morning helping with the teas and bacon buttes and on Presentation night she'd arrive early to set up and stay late to tidy away.

Sam and I were not friends, more acquaintances, most mornings I'd see her pass my house as she dropped the children at school and walked up the road to work. She'd always stop for a chat or wave at me in the kitchen window.

Sam had cancer, she died 6 weeks after being taken ill. The cancer spread to her liver, lungs and heart, having started off as undiagnosed ovarian cancer.

According to her friends Sam was very brave in her final days at St Richards hospice in Worcester.

So this is why you need a smear test, I've had one recently, it's not pleasant, it's slightly embarrassing and is uncomfortable.

But it could save your life and save you from suffering in pain and save your husband and children suffering when you are gone.