Vicky Phelan was too unwell to appear on RTE’s Late Late Show on Friday night as she continues her battle with terminal cancer.
She had been due to speak on the chat show ahead of the release of new documentary 'Vicky', which follows the mother-of-two’s tireless fight for the truth following the CervicalCheck cancer scandal.
Host Ryan Tubridy told viewers that although Vicky had hoped to appear on the show, she wasn’t well enough to make the trip to Dublin.
The CervicalCheck campaigner, 47, from Limerick, has been suffering with ill health recently after she started a new session of chemotherapy in recent weeks.
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Ryan explained Vicky’s absence on Friday’s show, saying: "I'm sorry she's not well enough at this time and of course we are thinking of her, her kids, and family.
"But with us are two people who know Vicky and continue to fight alongside her."
Appearing on the show in her place were fellow campaigners Stephen Teap, whose wife Irene died of cervical cancer, and Lorraine Walsh. Stephen gave an update on Vicky's health admitting that she has had a "rough time" recently but that she is staying optimistic.
"We all know what she's been going through the past few years with this terminal illness. Like anybody out there you have good days and bad days," he said.
"She has just been through a rough time as of recent. She started a new chemotherapy session last week which has been pretty tough on her.
"She wanted me to share that with everybody because that's why she's not here today. She has already improved in the last two days which is great.
"For her, it's all about quality of life and spending time are with her kids. Our thoughts are with her as she gets that quality back again."
Previous health updates
Earlier this year, Vicky suffered serious complications following a course of radiotherapy in February. At the time she admitted that throughout her cancer treatment, she’d "never been in so much pain".
In April, she reluctantly had to pull out of the Climb with Charlie event due to her decline in health which saw hundreds of people take to Croagh Patrick in aid of Motor Neuron Disease.
However, her medical team deemed her stable enough to go on a much-needed week holiday in Spain with her family in June.
Vicky previously said that as she battles a terminal illness, she now plans her life in “chunks” of seven to eight weeks around the events she hopes to be around for.
Speaking at a ceremony in February where she was awarded the Freedom of Limerick, Vicky said: “When you have a terminal illness, you don’t plan too far ahead. Seven or eight weeks is about as much as you can do.
“My son will be 11 on February 26th and that’s my next goal, then Croagh Patrick which everyone in the country knows about, I kind of do things in chunks now.”
Vicky's last social media post
Vicky regularly posts updates to her 140k followers on Instagram. Her last update was at the end of August following a family road trip around Ireland in a campervan.
Vicky posted a series of pictures of the staycation with her 11-year-old son Darragh, and her former partner Jim showing beaches and stunning coastal scenery around Ireland including the Giant’s Causeway.
They travelled together through Sligo, Donegal and into Northern Ireland where they visited Portrush and Portstewart, before finishing their trip in Carlingford.
In her caption on Instagram Vicky wrote: “I am soooo glad that I was well enough to make this trip and to make it to the Giants Causeway, which has been on my bucket list for a loooong time. I thoroughly enjoyed the vanlife experience and will definitely do it again.”
New documentary
Her new documentary, simply titled ‘Vicky’ will be released in Irish cinemas this this Friday, October 7.
It highlights how Vicky exposed one of the worst women’s health scandals in Irish history - which saw 206 women develop cervical cancer after having a misdiagnosed CervicalCheck smear test.
The documentary will also follow Vicky’s own health battle and her efforts to access the latest cancer treatments for the disease.
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