I got a second chance at life

Now I want to help save your life—and your daughter's life

‘I'm a cancer survivor’

Just seven weeks after her cervical cancer surgery, Mary Beth Hankey shared her story at the Countdown to Cervical Cancer Prevention seminar at Cedar Crest College last fall.

Protect your daughter from cervical cancer

• A new vaccine protects young women against the two strains of HPV (human papillomavirus) that cause 70 percent of cervical cancers
• HPV is very common— 20 million adult women have it
• HPV is transmitted through sexual activities
• This vaccine is for girls as young as age 9, before they have any intimate contact
• Talk to your pediatrician now

Mary Beth Hankey is a woman on a mission. The cancer survivor has a message for every woman: Have your Pap test every year. Make sure your young daughters get the cervical cancer vaccine.

The 55-year-old Summit Hill woman was five years past menopause when she noticed some spotting. When it got worse, she saw her doctor. After tests showed cervical cancer, she met with Martin Martino, M.D., a gynecologic oncologist at Lehigh Valley Hospital, who recommended surgery. Her cancer is now in remission.

Hankey says, “Dr. Martino gave me my life back. I’ll do anything to help other women.” She reminds every woman she knows to get a Pap test every year. She tells women at work and church about the new HPV vaccine (see Protect Your Daughter, at left), which could eliminate 70 percent of all cervical cancer.

“I always wanted to make a difference in the world,” says Hankey. By sharing her story with so many women, she’s succeeding.

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