Plea of non-smoker from Hastings diagnosed with lung cancer at 37

A non-smoker who was diagnosed with lung cancer at the age of 37 is campaigning for better awareness of the condition in young women.

Jules Fielder, from Hastings, East Sussex, has secured a meeting with Health Secretary Wes Streeting after a social media campaign.

Ms Fielding, now 41, said she was challenging “outdated stereotypes” about the condition, particularly that it only affects older people or people who smoke.

She is demanding “urgent action” about one of the UK’s biggest cancer killers.

Ms Fielder said she was given a prognosis of six to nine months in August.

She said: “I just thought, right, this is it, now is the final straw for me.

“I’m just going to use my lifeline as a tool and use the power of social media to try to grant me what I’m after.

“And that is why I wanted Wes Streeting’s attention – to express how lung cancer is UK’s number one killer but has the least amount of limelight on it.”

Ms Fielder has a following of almost 35,000 people for her cancer journey blog on Instagram.

Taking to social media in a coordinated movement with Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation, she asked followers to take a black and white photo holding their finger to their lips with the hashtag BreakTheSilence.

Ms Fielding said the response was “overwhelming” which led to an invite from the Health Secretary.

She said she was determined to break down “outdated stereotypes” about the disease.

She said: “We still live in such a dated time where the stigma around lung cancer is associated to a man, a smoker.

“I’m not prepared to sit anymore and wait for another decade of non-smokers to appear in order for lung cancer to have the awareness and the attention that it needs.”