Beating bowel cancer

Bowel cancer is one of the most common cancers diagnosed in the UK, and has the second highest rates of death of all cancers. While the majority of people with the disease are over the age of 60, diagnosis rates amongst young people have risen by 48 per cent since 2004 – an issue that Thom Hunt is determined to tackle head-on.

“I was 26 when I started getting symptoms,” Thom says. Otherwise healthy, the active sportsman didn’t know what was happening at the time. “I was losing weight, passing blood and having bad stomach pains. I went to see my GP three or four times over the course of a year, and despite doing lots of tests, the reason for my symptoms was not being picked up.

“After more than a year of symptoms, my tumour grew through my colon and split. I was rushed to hospital with severe abdominal pains, tested overnight and diagnosed with bowel cancer at about 8am. By 8.30am I was having emergency surgery. I woke up to a 12-inch scar down my middle, with 29 titanium staples holding me together.”

Thom went on to have six months of intensive chemotherapy to rid him of the cancer completely. He was forced to take a year off work – an experience that, as a young man, hit him hard. “When you lose a year of your life and your independence when you’re 27, it’s difficult,” he says. “The surgery wasn’t as bad as the chemo – six months of it completely wears you down. I had problems with nerve damage in my hands and my feet, I was savagely ill with sickness, I was lethargic and constantly nauseous. Everything comes crashing down at once upon you, and that’s why support is so important.”

Eight years on from his diagnosis, Thom is now healthy and determined to help others

The surgeon who operated on Thom was Dr Mark Coleman, who launched the charity Bowel Cancer West in 2010 to support research into bowel cancer and raise awareness of the disease throughout the West Country. Once Thom had recovered from his cancer, he chose to get involved in the charity and now acts as an ambassador, working to make other young men aware of their symptoms so that they can catch cancer early.

“A quicker diagnosis means better survival chances,” Thom says. “I had no genetic or family history – I was one of the unlucky few it just pops up in. That’s why it took over a year to get proper tests and resulted in an emergency surgery – I thought I had a parasite or Crohn’s disease or ulcers. You need to be able to be quite honest with your GP about your symptoms, and it is a sensitive subject and a private area but I say to guys now to swallow your pride. Putting it off or thinking it’ll be ok is literally the worst thing you can do.”

April is Bowel Cancer Awareness Month, with Bowel Cancer West and other charities working to raise the public’s consciousness of the symptoms of the cancer. Thom advises that if you have a serious change in bowel habits, loss of appetite, weight loss, stomach cramps or are passing blood and your symptoms go on for more than three weeks, book a doctor’s appointment as soon as you can.

Seven years on and Thom is cancer free and determined to keep helping others. He’s raised thousands of pounds in sponsorship for Bowel Cancer West through sporting feats including marathons and plans to continue his efforts for as long as possible. “Cancer in a general sense is becoming so much more prevalent, in young people and in society,” Thom says. “There’s a war to fight against cancer.”

To support Bowel Cancer West during Bowel Cancer Awareness Month, visit www.bowelcancerwest.com