Two years ago we faced devastating news that our stepfather
Roger had bowel cancer. He had numerous symptoms that he’d shrugged off for too long until mum dragged him into see his GP. He was extremely lucky. If he’d left it another month- he wouldn’t be here today. Having been overwhelmed by Roger’s situation and then losing my aunt Sara to cancer, I wanted to do something. I successfully applied for a role to lead Bowel Cancer West- a charity set up by
Surgeon Mark Coleman who operated on Roger. I have to admit, my knowledge of bowel cancer was virtually non-existent until Roger’s diagnosis. I was shocked to know it is the second most common cause of cancer mortality in the UK and that’s because people aren’t aware of the symptoms or ignore them for too long. Roger was told recently that he is now cancer free- he was lucky. There are many others who leave it too late- particularly in the west country. If we can get our crucial message out, continue to support local research and GP training, more people like Roger can survive this terrible disease. This is the first of many events I am looking to take part in to raise money for BCW so thank you for your donation and please help to get our vital message out: “DON’T JUST SIT ON IT!”