Ian was recently diagnosed with stage 4 bowel cancer at the age of 42. He had attended the doctor initially with chest pain, but nothing showed up on any scans, tests etc... it was thanks to a particular doctor in the yellow wing of Clydebank health centre who took what Ian was telling them as a challenge to find out what was going on.  After 1 blood test came back with a slightly low blood count, he was confused.  Ordinarily this would have been down to anaemia due to lifestyle, but Ian is young, heathy and able to run a 10k no problem, and his iron levels were fine, so he investigated further.  Eventually he managed to get a CT scan organised and this showed bowel cancer which had already spread to his lung and liver (stage 4).  It is incurable but treatable for a while as long as the chemo works (we are hoping and praying this works). We want people to know that none of his symptoms were in any way linked to the 'normal' symptoms of this disease and must raise awareness of this.

We have 2 young children (Liam, 11 and Katie, 9) and never imagined this would happen to us.  I intend to try and do as much fundraising and raise awareness for this cancer and others in the near future and any amount you can donate will help towards finding new treatments and eventually a cure... thank you. Debbie.xx

Bowel Cancer UK is the UK's leading bowel cancer charity and we're determined to save lives and improve the quality of life of everyone affected by bowel cancer. Bowel cancer is the UK's second biggest cancer killer with more than 16,500 people dying annually of a disease that is preventable, treatable and curable. We're determined to change that. The funds raised will help us to provide support and information to patients and their families, enable us to fund and support research into bowel cancer and allow us to campaign for early diagnosis and best treatment and care for all.