TEST COULD HAVE SAVED ME FROM CERVICAL CANCER AT 20
A young woman has told how she has been robbed of her fertility and now faces an uncertain future after she was diagnosed with cervical cancer at the age of just 22. Pretty Natalie Carney believes if she had been offered a smear test two years ago that she would not now be facing weeks of chemotherapy and radiotherapy plus an early menopause. Doctors missed several opportunities to diagnose Natalie's cancer and she was left suffering symptoms for months before the 3.5cm tumour was eventually found. Despite initially being hopeful the cancer could be removed through fertility-preserving surgery, she was later told she would need a radical hysterectomy, then chemo and radiotherapy that would rob her of the chance to bear children.She now faces a race against time to harvest her eggs before she begins treatment in the hope that she and her boyfriend of six months Adam Burton will someday be able to have a child.
Other great stories
UNLIKELY PLAYMATES: BRAVE CHICKS PLAY WITH A PYTHON
A pair of chicks bravely decided to befriend a python, despite being the snake's favourite choice of food .
TUNNEL FOR VICTORY
What lies beneath this building site? Britain's great hope of winning the pre-WW2 arms race against Nazi Germany .
PEEK-A-BOO FISH: BRIT SNAPPER MAKES RARE FIND
A Brit photographer has captured one of the world's most camera-shy species of fish - during a game of underwater peek-a-boo .
SINGING STOAT
MOUTH OPEN wide, this little stoat appears to be in mid-song as he belts out a tune for his onlookers .
HOUNDTON TABBY
FROM MRS Patmore to Lady Sybil, these barking mad illustrations show the WOOF-er side of some of our most loved Downton characters .
ZANZIBAR FISHERMEN RISK THEIR LIVES FOR FOOD
VENTURING into the ocean with self-made spears and nets, the fishermen of Zanzibar put their lives on the line when they catch food for their families .
SNOWY SQUIRRELS PLAY A GAME OF BALL
Throwing their arms up in the air, these energetic squirrels play a game of ball with a walnut .
BEATEN TO A PULP FOR MY TRANS-FORMATION, BUT I WON’T LET THE BULLIES GET ME DOWN
Ashlee, 20, has always known that she was supposed to be a girl .
BOSTON MARATHON PICTURES
T least three people have been killed and more than 100 injured, some seriously, in two explosions at the finish line of the Boston Marathon .
STRIKING IMAGES RECREATE WORLD WAR II
Primed and ready for action, this collection of striking images from the battlefield could be mistaken for authentic photos taking during World War II .
MILLIONS OF SARDINES CREATE A TORNADO WAVE
THIS incredible shimmer of silver fish mirrors the image of that of an underwater tornado .