FAMILY MEMBERS OF Emma Mhic Mhathúna, one of the women affected by the CervicalCheck crisis that emerged last year, have celebrated the ‘strong and courageous’ woman on the first anniversary of her death. 

Members of her family have asked people to keep Emma in their hearts and hope “something positive will come from her journey and her passing”. 

“With her death a bright light in our lives was extinguished and her beautiful and brave voice silenced,” said a statement issued by Emma’s five children, her father Peter and her family.

“Her pain and suffering was thankfully at an end as she was re-united with her Mam.”

The family said there were “no words” to express their gratitude for support from the public over the past year. Today is the first anniversary of her passing. 

“The words ‘thank you’ seem so inadequate but we hope that you will appreciate that your support, whether from family, friends, neighbours and the wider public, meant so much to us all particularly when we needed it most,” the statement read. 

The mother-of-five was diagnosed with terminal cancer in 2016, one of the 221 women with cervical cancer found to have received incorrect smear tests by the CervicalCheck screening programme last year.

A funeral mass was held last year for Emma at Séipéal na Carraige, Baile na nGall, near her home in Baile an Fheirtearaigh in West Kerry. 

The family members said they will be refraining from further comment. 

Finally but most particularly we would ask that you keep Emma RIP in your hearts and minds today, to remember her fondly and her children as they re-build their lives without their beloved Mam. Emma was a strong and courageous lady and will be remembered as such.