Derry comedian, actor and writer, Diona Doherty has encouraged women to attend regular cervical screening and shared how a late smear test confirmed she had a ‘severe level’ of pre-cancerous cells.

Diona, who is a familiar face on screens and stage, having appeared in tops shows such as ‘Derry Girls,’ ‘Soft Border Patrol’ and ‘The Blame Game,’ was speaking on the podcast ‘The Girls Groupchat,’ which she hosts alongside Jordan Arnold, Shannon Mitchell, and Olivia McVeigh.

Diona told how she hadn’t attended a smear test for 12 years, but had an ‘instinct’ to attend a screening a ‘few months ago’.

The results of the screening showed she had ‘stage three’ pre-cancerous cells.

"The results came back that I had a moderate level of pre-cancerous cells and then I had to go to get a biopsy done, which then resulted that I had a severe level of pre-cancerous cells, which is stage three. I was told that’s the last stage before it becomes cancerous. So, I went in for my appointment and they burnt out those cells, which is, like, mad – you watch it on the screen and it shows you, your insides are, like, pink and then it scrolls the camera across and it’s like this wall of white. And, they’re like: ‘That’s all your pre-cancerous cells.’ And, then they burn them out. And then, they go: ‘We’re going to have to cut out some of your cervix while you’re here, because this is as far as you can go before this becomes pre-cancerous. It all happened in a bit of a whirl.”

Diona has since received further results and confirmed that ‘everything is fine and the situation is handed’, but said she wanted to speak about her experience on the podcast to encourage others to attend their smears.

“I can’t stress enough how you should get your smear tests done and I can’t believe how stupid I was, for so long, to put it off.”

Co-host Shannon told of how Diona had previously spoken about how she needed to attend screening, but said she couldn’t find the time,

"It’s about prioritising that time,” Shannon added, while Olivia and Jordan added how it could ‘save your life.’

Diona agreed and stated that her reason for not attending previous screening was that she couldn’t find time. However, attending when she did meant that a potentially worse diagnosis was prevented..

“I was going, I can’t make it that day, I’ve got something on. It’s so mad. Whenever I was with the doctor they said: “It’s crazy you left it 12 years and had an instinct to make an appointment, because if you hadn’t, this would have been way worse. I was, like, I’m a mum, how stupid am I not to take my health into my own hands.”

January is Cervical Cancer Awareness Month. To learn more about cervical screening in Northern Ireland, see https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/articles/cervical-screening and https://www.nhs.uk/tests-and-treatments/cervical-screening/

For further information about cervical screening in the Republic of Ireland, see https://www2.hse.ie/conditions/cervical-screening and https://apps.cervicalcheck.ie/