A 37-year-old woman with cervical cancer who may have less than a year to live has told the High Court she is not frightened of dying, but does not want to die.

Ruth Morrissey, of Monaleen in Co Limerick, is suing the HSE and two laboratories over the incorrect reporting of two smear tests carried out before she was diagnosed in 2014.

She says if the tests had been reported correctly she would not have developed cancer.

She also claims she was not told about the incorrect reporting until earlier this year.

Mrs Morrissey continued her evidence to the court today.

She said her doctor in Cork asked to meet her in May this year. He explained that there had been an audit of smear tests in 2014 and that she had been part of it.

She said he showed her a report he had received in 2016. Mrs Morrissey said she was taken aback to hear that two previous smear tests in 2009 and 2012 had been misread.

She said the doctor, Matt Hewitt, apologised to her and said he forgot to tell her.

She told the court she believed he informed her of this in May this year because he was told to.

The court heard that she did not believe she would ever have found out about it, if it had not been for Vicky Phelan's case.

Mrs Morrissey said she was in pain, and her mobility was affected by the recurrence of her cancer earlier this year. She had to go up stairs on her hands and knees and down on her bottom.

She had enjoyed cooking but found it difficult to hold pots or take objects out of the oven. She relied heavily on family, particularly her husband's sisters.

She also had pain in her pelvic area, her stomach and hip. Her sleep was affected and she had difficulties with memory.

Mrs Morrissey said she had been someone who travelled in Europe for her job, discussing innovation and strategies. However now she had no interaction with adults and felt isolated and lonely.

She had planned to have more than one child but could not.

Mrs Morrissey said her diagnosis of terminal cancer was devastating - she told the court she had to dig really deep. She was not the same person she used to be.

She was not frightened to die, but did not want to die.

Mrs Morrissey's husband, Paul, told the court his wife was his best friend and they did everything together.

He said Ruth was the only person he could talk to. He became emotional as he said their seven-year-old daughter knew something was happening.

And he said he had heard their daughter saying to his wife: "Please don't die, I love you, don't leave me."

He said he did not go out any more and did not do anything.

His wife, he said, had been given a death sentence and his trust in doctors had gone.

He said Ruth should not be in the situation she was in. She should not have to face this battle, he said.

Mr Morrissey said he was going to lose his wife, who he had met at 19 years of age.

She was never going to see her daughter's communion or confirmation and it was soul-destroying and heartbreaking.

"You've only one mam," he said. And he told the court it was Ruth their daughter ran to for a cuddle if she fell.