A young mother has started a campaign to lower the age of testing for cervical cancer after she was diagnosed with the disease at 25.

Emma Esler-Green heard the shattering news after her first smear test.

In just two weeks, she will undergo what for many women would be the ultimate sacrifice – losing her womb to rid herself of the disease.

Mrs Esler-Green is already a mum of four, but she said: “I was devastated. My first reaction was, ‘don’t take me away from my babies’, because you hear cancer and immediately you think death.

“The only option given to me was a hysterectomy, and at that point I just thought, ‘thank god I have my family already’.

“My prognosis is good. I should be fine after the operation. But the thought of having my womb removed at the age of 25 is horrific, I can’t imagine how other women who don’t have children would feel.”

Mrs Esler-Green lives with her husband, Thomas, and children in Grosvenor Avenue, Chatham.

“My prognosis is good. I should be fine after the operation. But the thought of having my womb removed at the age of 25 is horrific, I can’t imagine how other women who don’t have children would feel.” - Emma

Earlier this year she booked into College Health in Luton immediately after receiving a letter about her first smear test.

She was not expecting anything to come of it, but quickly got a call alerting her to an abnormality.

She had an operation to remove the abnormal cells for a biopsy.

Then the bombshell was dropped: she was diagnosed with cervical cancer.

“All my family and friends were in complete shock. I didn’t have a single symptom before going for my smear, or any pains. That’s what’s scary, people put off their smears but somebody could have it and not know until it’s too late.”

With a cheeky slogan of ‘spread awareness, and spread your legs’ Mrs Esler-Green is now begging others to get tested.

She shared her story on Facebook and, over the past couple of weeks, has been inundated with messages from about 200 people who, because of her, got themselves checked.

Mrs Esler-Green is now just waiting for the government e-petition site to get back up and running after being taken offline during the election. Her goal is to get the age for first smears lowered to 18.

Of her four children, three are boys aged nine, seven and four, but with an 11-month-old girl the rules are something she now feels even more passionate about.

“I will do everything in my power to make this happen, because cancer doesn’t have an age limit.

“I was the correct age to have my first smear and I have cancer.

“It’s not as uncommon as people think. My doctor said I wasn’t the youngest he had seen by a long way.

“It’s ridiculous. Abnormal cells take years to change to the next stages. If I had been offered a smear test earlier I would not be in this position.”