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Outlook: Exposing the scandal that's cost me my life

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Vicky Phelan

02/10/2019 GMT

Exposing the scandal that's cost me my life

BBC World Service - Outlook, Exposing the scandal that's cost me my life

Vicky Phelan on the medical scandal that gave 221 women inaccurate smear test results

Cervical cancer campaigner Vicky Phelan on exposing the medical scandal that saw 221 women in Ireland receiving inaccurate smear test results.

In 2011, Vicky Phelan, a mother of two children from Annacrotty, Co. Limerick, went for a smear test.  Initially, it showed no abnormalities but in 2014, after noticing some unusual bleeding, she went to her GP and was told she had cervical cancer. Intensive treatment followed and after some months, she was given the all clear.  But unfortunately, the cancer returned and she was given just 6-12 months to live. Feeling something was being kept from her, she started looking through her medical files, and in doing so opened up what was to be Ireland's biggest medical scandal. She speaks to Emily Webb about her subsequent legal fight and how she sought justice for herself and other women in Ireland.

When American Dani Rotstein touched down on the Spanish island of Mallorca, looking to start a new life, he thought he would struggle to meet other Jewish people. But to his suprise, there was a whole network for him to tap into. A community of Chuetas - Jewish people who'd had to forcibly convert to Catholicism hundreds of years ago. Emily Webb hears about Dani's friendship with Miquel Segura, a descendant of one of them, who has brought Jewish customs back to the island.  

(Photo: Vicky Phelan. Credit: Emily Quinn)

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