HOW SAD. SHE DIED EARLY THIS MORNING, ON MOTHERING SUNDAY. HER LITTLE BOYS HAD MADE MOTHER'S DAY CARDS FOR HER EARLIER IN THE WEEK.

READ ABOUT IT HERE: http://www.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/03/22/jade.goody.dies.obituary/

It is sad. Especially on mother's day. I have to admit I couldn't stand her on Big Brother, and I think her behavior towards Shilpa on celeb BB was disgusting, and a good example of her ignorance. However, I have come to rather respect her over the past few years, and particularly in the last few weeks. She KNEW she was ignorant, she knew she'd behaved badly in the past, and she had apologised, and taken all the abuse she recieved as a result. Ultimately all she wanted was to be a good mother, and to give her kids the best life possible. i certainly couldn't criticise her for the way she allowed her death to be played out in the media... not when she was doing it all for her children. It's them I worry about now, because ironically, she was probably the only person in their lives capable of caring for them. I wouldn't trust Jack or her horrible mother. Hopefully their dad will do the right thing for them and put them first, like she did.

I also think it's pretty amazing what she's done for cervical cancer awareness. I think I read somewhere that cercival smear test uptake has gone up by 20% since her diagnosis, which is fantastic. She will save lives, so I think she'll make her children proud.

YEAH, SHE WAS COMPLETELY IGNORANT ON MANY MATTERS - BUT SHE TOTALLY DIDN'T TRY TO HIDE IT OR PRETEND TO BE SOMETHING SHE WASN'T. WHAT YOU SAW WAS WHAT YOU GOT WITH JADE, YO. ALTHOUGH I DO THINK SHE EXAGGERATED HER STUPIDITY SOMETIMES FOR COMIC EFFECT! ;D

I FEEL BAD FOR HER 'HORRIBLE MOTHER', YO! HAHA - I NEVER SAW HER AS HORRIBLE. JUST RATHER... LIKE A LOST CHILD, YO. JADE SEEMS TO HAVE BEEN THE RESPONSIBLE ONE IN THE FAMILY, AND I THINK SHE WAS MORE LIKE A MOTHER TO HER MOTHER. HER MOTHER WILL BE LOST WITHOUT HER, YO. IT IS SAD.

what is mothering day? I know that Mothers Day is not until May. Just wondered is all

Mother's Day in the UK is today.

AHHHH you guys had me worried! I had just got done talking to my mom, and thought if I didnt tell her happy mothers day she is gonna flip! lol

MOTHERING SUNDAY IS THE EQUIVALENT OF MOTHER'S DAY IN THE UK (AND OFTEN CALLED 'MOTHERS DAY', ALTHOUGH THE TRADITIONAL NAME IS 'MOTHERING SUNDAY'). IT IS TODAY FOR BRITS, NOT IN MAY.

I was quite convinced she was faking, cynic that I am. Guess I was wrong! This is what happens when you spend too much time on internet forums! ;D

I am totally boycotting the media for the next few weeks though. It's going to be as bad as when Princess Di died, only without the humanitarian work, and the modesty, and the grace, and the diplomacy etc.

I do think it's rather amazing though how the entire British population seem to have forgotten what a foul mouthed idiot she has been known to be. I have run across many Jade Goody groups on Facebook and it's amazing how fickle the public really is!

And oh God, those poor kids with that twat of a step father! I can see them in care in a few years.

I never did like her, and just because she died of cancer isn't going to change that. Yes, it's sad, very sad, but plenty of people die of cancer.

Also, Max Clifford is a cock.

HAHA - YOU THOUGHT SHE WAS FAKING? THAT NEVER OCCURRED TO ME - ANNOYING THOUGH SHE MAY BE, SHE ALWAYS STRUCK ME AS VERY REAL.

I ACTUALLY FEEL A BIT SAD, YO - WHICH TOTALLY SURPRISES ME, AS I NEVER FEEL SAD WHEN CELEBRITIES DIE. I WASN'T SAD AT ALL WHEN PRINCESS DI DIED. I THINK IT'S BECAUSE REALITY TV KIND OF GIVES THE ILLUSION THAT YOU KNOW SOMEONE. LIKE, GOSH, ALL THOSE AWFUL NIGHT SHIFTS I WORKED WITH BIG BROTHER ON TV ALL NIGHT LONG, AND JADE'S TERRIBLY ANNOYING VOICE - IT'S LIKE NOW SHE SEEMS LIKE AN OLD FLAT MATE OR SOMETHING! BUT THEN I NEVER DISLIKED HER, LIKE YOU DID - I JUST FOUND HER VOICE ANNOYING AND I THEREFORE WANTED HER TO SHUT UP. I LIKED HER REALNESS, YO - LIKE SHE TOTALLY BROUGHT A NEW LEVEL OF REALITY TO REALITY TV. I LIKED HER WEDDING - NOT A TRACE OF SENTIMENTALITY OR PRETENTION, YO. TOTALLY EXACTLY THE SAME AS SHE WAS ON BIG BROTHER ALL THOSE YEARS AGO!

AS FOR HER KIDS, I THOUGHT THAT THEIR REAL FATHER WAS GETTING CUSTODY OR SOMETHING (OR SO I READ SOMEWHERE - I KNOW ABSOLUTELY NOTHING OF THE STORY, AS I HAVEN'T KEPT TRACK OF HER LIFE AT ALL. I WATCHED HER IN BIG BROTHER ALL THOSE YEARS AGO, TOTALLY AGAINST MY WILL - AND THEN THE OTHER DAY WATCHED HER WEDDING. AND I UNDERSTAND THAT SHE WENT ON CELEBRITY BIG BROTHER IN BETWEEN AND SAID SOME RACIST THINGS THAT HORRIFIED THE COUNTRY.

I don't think people have forgotten what she was like in Big Brother. But I also believe people can change, and I think she DID change. And I developed a respect for her because of the way she has spent her last few weeks doing everything she possibly can to provide her children with a good life after she's gone. I don't think anyone can be criticised for that, and I don't think it's hypocritical to dislike her previous behavior, but have respect for how she acted in her final few weeks.

And I believe the kids are going to live with their natural father, Jeff Brazier, or whatever his name is. Which is probably better for them than staying with their stepfather!

But dying in the media? That's hardly tasteful.

The papers made it out to be the first case of cancer ever recorded. She is also apparently the first mother to ever love her sons.

If she had donated to a cancer charity, I would feel differently, but no, she didn't.

A friend I went to school with, her mother recently died of cervical cancer. She is APPALLED by this whole Jade Goody scenario. She thinks it is sick and disgusting and I have to agree with her. And I think out of everyone, people like her have the right to be the most outraged.

It was like bloody car crash TV for the masses. I actually read someone on a forum today saying that they couldn't wait for her funeral to be on TV! She also couldn't wait to visit her grave. It made me realise that a big portion of the public is completely revelling in her untimely death. It's so fucked up!

But the thing that irritates me the most is what is she famous for? Honestly, what discernible talents does she have? She does not deserve this amount of attention. She is a regular person, dying from an unfortunately regular disease.

I realise I have to blame the media for this though. No other country seems to applaud vacuous celebs the way we do! (One reason I steer clear from magazines and the news and the papers!)

And if anyone thinks I'm being harsh... just search some of the I Hate Jade groups on FB... now that's harsh!

Ok... rant over!!

My initial response was the same... that dying in the public eye like that wasn't very tasteful. But once I realised her reasons for doing things the way she did (so as to make as much money as possible to leave her boys and provide them with the best future she could), I could totally understand what she did. And I really don't see why someone should be criticised for doing the best for her child. She wasn't hurting anyone by allowing the magazines to attend her wedding.

I don't think it matters that she hasn't donated any money to cancer charities, because she's managed to do something that cancer charities have been trying (and failing) to do for years... raise the awareness of cervical cancer, and get women to actually GO and get their smears. In doing that she WILL have saved lives. Women may have ignored the cervical cancer campaigns by the government and various charities... but seeing Jade dying so young has made many stop and think. As a result of her so public death, lives will be saved, and other children won't lose their mothers so prematurely.

I feel sad for your friend, I really do, but I think for every person affected by cancer who is appalled by her behavior, there will be another person who would applaud her. Particularly in view of the fact it could prevent other women dying, if it gets them to go for their smear.

I agree that the comments in the forum you're talking of sound ridiculous, but I would say that reflects far more on the person writing the comments, and on the media, than it does on Jade herself.

And i think it's the fact that she's a 'regular person' that has affected some people so much. As PUCK said, people can imagine her not as a celebrity, but as their next door neighbour, or their friend.

You've said before that in the UK the smears are given every couple years, unlike here, where we get them annually. I saw something recently about the 'age' to get one. I am curious, because I had not heard that before. I assumed people got them once they were sexually active, not well after that just because they weren't the correct 'age' yet (as in, their 20s, not young teens or something).

and by all that, I mean I heard something about the age in regards to the UK. Here they say generally to go once you've started having sex, though I don't know of any young girls getting smears though many are sexually active. most of the people I know have gone beginning around the time they go to college (18 and up).

Oh, and the reason 20 is chosen as the age is because cervical cancer under the age of 20 is extremely rare.

In the UK cervical smears are performed every 3 years. The basis for that is the fact that cervical cancer is usually slow growing, taking up to 10 years to go from a few abnormal cells to invasive cancer, therefore getting checked every 3 years should catch the majority of abnormal cells before they become invasive cancer (I think the difference between here and the US is probably the fact we have a national health service, so the government cannot justify the cost of testing annually, if there's no actual benefit in outcome... however in the US the patient or their insurance pays, so it is a different story).

In Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland the policy is to test every women over the age of 20 once she is sexually active. So every woman in Scotland, Wales and NI is invited for a smear test when they turn 20. If they are not yet sexually active, they can decline it, and will be invited again the following year.

In England, however, they put the age for smears up to 25 a few years ago (although I believe it is still possible to get a smear under that age if you are sexually active, and request it). It's been rather controversial, with various stories appearing in the media of women under 25 dying from cervical cancer because they were refused a smear (Jade Goody was in fact only 26 I think when she was diagnosed with invasive cancer), and there's quite a campaign to get the age in England put back down to 20, in line with the rest of the UK.

If you are on medical contraception you have a smear once a year otherwise your doctor can stop your prescription.

well that's how it is here. My prescription lasts a year, until my next exam, when it gets renewed.

Not according to the NHS website. CLICK HERE

Routine testing is supposed to start at age 25 in England. Perhaps you just have a doctor who feels strongly about screening younger women?

I've been to three surgeries, all of whom do the same, I have three new friends at uni who are all on the pill and all had to have a smear test after a year to be receive another prescription, all in English surgeries.

Perhaps some English GPs are doing that now because they disagree with the government guideline then, and are using contraception as justification for doing it? Or perhaps it's a specific NHS trust policy? I'm only guessing, but it's definitely not in keeping with what the national government guidelines for screening in England say, so I don't think you can assume it's the same everywhere in England.

And in Scotland it is definitely over the age of 20 and sexually active. Being on contraception is not an indication alone for being screened.

I lived in lincolnshire when I got my first letter, one of the girls is from North Yorkshire, one is from Leicestershire, then the other is from Guilford, I have no idea what county it is in.

Wow I've been on the pill on and off for 6 years and never had a smear (I'm 22 now and have 2 kids and still no smear!).

Crazy, I've been on the pill almost a year, as have friends, and none of us have had to go. I just need to get my blood pressure done every 9 months.

Ruth thought she was going to get out of it, then her letter arrived exactly 365 days after her first pill! I had to have my blood pressure done every six months, now I'm on the implant it is 9 months.