Very distressing news.

Vicky Phelan recently shared the good news that she is doing well while undergoing treatment in the United States. 47-year-old mother travelled to Americalast month to undergo cancer treatment. Phelan was diagnosed with cervical cancer in 2014 and is one of the many Irish women affected by the CervicalCheck scandal. Unfortunately, Phelan's latest update has not been so positive as the activist revealed that her Instagram account has been hacked and is currently being held at random by an unknown person.

This ⬇️ See below msg I just received from the person who hacked my Instagram account

Now I am angry ??? pic.twitter.com/8u4LsxFJ5y — Vicky Phelan (@PhelanVicky) February 10, 2021

Phelan shared a screenshot yesterday of a demand sent to her by an unknown person demanding that she pay $3,500 to them if she wants to gain control of her account again. In the message the perpetrator writes that they are an expert at hacking accounts having done it for several years and that if Phelan does not pay the amount that they are looking for that they will use her account maliciously. Phelan wrote that she is very angry and fans have encouraged her to stand her ground and not give in to the hackers demands. https://www.instagram.com/p/CLH8Ioojl44/ Since the demand was made it seems that Phelan has set up a new Instagram account under the username vickykellyphelan, and already has over 20,000 followers. Given that Phelan is far away from friends and family at the moment while she undergoes treatment the hacking of her account is especially cruel as it temporally took away one access point to her support system back home. Phelan being the incredible woman she is perseveres and we would encourage everyone to go and follow her new account and show her lots of support.