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Health
Sam Volpe

Amber's Law: Hayley McQueen backs charity's drive to prevent cervical cancer as it looks to build on Sunderland woman's legacy

Six years on from Amber Rose Cliff's death from cervical cancer, her family are looking to expand her legacy and fight to help prevent prevent people suffering from a range of gynaecological cancers.

Sky Sports News presenter Hayley McQueen has also shared her support for Amber's Law in a special video for the charity ahead of cervical cancer awareness week. The week runs from January 23.

Amber died in 2017 following a four-year battle with cervical cancer which spread to her lungs and throat. She had repeatedly asked for a cervical screening test but this was always denied to her because of her age - she was just 25 when she died.

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Since then, the Amber's Law charity set up by her loved ones has campaigned to widen access to cervical screening and ensure as many people as possible take up invitations for screening appointments. The video with Hayley McQueen is designed to demystify getting checked for HPV - the virus which is responsible for causing most cervical cancers - is vital.

Darren Cliff, Amber's dad, said: "We are thrilled to l have this video from Hayley that supports our charities' mission to create awareness of the importance of screening and the HPV vaccine. Amber's Law has been creating a beautiful legacy since Amber passed away in 2017, which is so important in preventing other women going through what Amber did."

In the video, Hayley said: "I'm helping Amber's law charity, raise awareness of cervical symptoms as eight in 10. People will contract HPV during their lifetime."

Hayley, whose Sky Sports News colleague Jo Wilson was diagnosed with stage 3b cervical cancer last year, spoke about how HPV can lead to the illness - but that the key is to pick up on the early physical changes through attending screening appointments.

She added: "There are over 200 known types of HPV and most people with it don't even know they have it. However, some high-risk HPV is linked to causing cancer. It can however, be picked up during a routine smear test and even when HPV is detected, the body can often clear the virus naturally.

"If HPV is picked up the health care professional can schedule follow-up appointments to keep an eye on cell changes before they become cancerous. This is something that happens to me. I have HPV and absolutely make sure I keep on top of it."

At the moment one in three people in Newcastle don't take up their screening invite, with coverage 4% lower than the England average at just 66%, according to national charity Jo's Cancer Trust.

Kay Attle, from Amber's Law and Darren's partner, added: "It was really great to have someone like Hayley McQueen behind us. Her colleague Jo Wilson was diagnosed last year and it's something really important to her."

Kay explained that Amber's Law plans to expand its work beyond just cervical cancer to help educate people about other forms of the illness such as ovarian and uterine cancer. She added: "Our focus is now on the five main kinds of gynaecological cancer. We are trying to broaden the charity's role. Until now we have only worked on cervical cancer. We are now broadening that to go from Amber's Law to Amber's Legacy. We are looking to work with more Northern organisations and groups to do this!"

Cervical Cancer Awareness week runs between January 23 and January 29 - and this year Jo's Cervical Cancer Trust are launching their End Cervical Cancer campaign. You can also find out more about Amber's Law here.

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