Vicky Phelan and Stephen Teap spoke to Ray D'Arcy yesterday to update us on the cervical check scandal.
It's almost a year since Stephen lost his wife Irene to cervical cancer after she received two incorrect smear test results. She died without knowing about the issues with the tests.
It's just 3 months since Vicky Phelan appeared on the steps of the High Court, when she brought a case against a US laboratory over a false negative smear test in 2011. And the story, thankfully, has been making headlines since.
But Ray Darcy went beyond the shocking statistics and figures, "221 women, 18 dead, 35 or 41 court cases pending...", to find the stories that exist beneath them.
We have landed at @RTERadio1 for a chat with @RadioRayRTE Tune in after 3. pic.twitter.com/ONZSutjjxn
— Vicky Phelan (@PhelanVicky) July 16, 2018
Stephen Teap is a patient representative on the newly formed steering committee. Now working alongside the organisations that were responsible for his wife's missed diagnosis, he says the reason he is there is to "fight for something...an opportunity to influence change.
"No more widowers at the age of 36. No more children motherless at the ages of 4 and 2."
While she's not part of any steering committees, Vicky Phelan is at the core of the movement born out of the cervical cancer scandal.
Speaking about her role as an agitator, she said former President of Ireland Mary Robinson has described her as "a sophisticated bad girl," at a recent event during Harry and Meghan's visit to Ireland, a title she is very accepting of.
Both Stephen and Vicky spoke of their frustration with all the delays on deadlines promised by the Government.
Now at the end of July they feel they have "no answers to anything."
While Vicky says she doesn't "totally agree with a redress scheme" the lack of redress scheme from victims of the scandal means the "only option is the legal route."
And although the HSE has agreed to admit liability for non-disclosure, a case still has to be prepared.
Stephen who is currently trying to prepare his case is experiencing the struggle of obtaining documents and slides, saying: "there's nothing simple about it."
"They're dragging women with terminal diagnosis, who are fighting on for seconds, through this process. It's not right."
Vicky admits that she "had to fight damn hard to get where [she] got."
But she says that "treatment is going really well." She feels "as good as [she] looks."
"I don't look like someone who's going to die," she joked.
Vicky also highlighted that despite the media attention gained by her court case, "the part of my story that I wanted to get out to people is that there is hope for terminally ill people."
Guess who I bumped into at @RTERadio1 only @stevethewall and Joe Wall from @TheStunningBand pic.twitter.com/y7sMMYb1oZ
— Vicky Phelan (@PhelanVicky) July 16, 2018
For now the Gabriel Scally inquiry and the smear test review of over 2,000 affected women, both of which have passed their deadlines, continue.
Stephen and Vicky's final message despite setbacks and frustrations: "nothing much has happened [since their last update with Ray] but we're not going away."
Today they are meeting the Department of Health to get the rubber stamp on their proposal for a Department of Health funded support group for all victims of the Cervical Check Scandal.
Listen to the full interview with Ray D'Arcy above.
