Runner back in race after bowel cancer diagnosis

Paul Scanlon thought he would never run again after being diagnosed with bowel cancer

A runner who was diagnosed with bowel cancer has completed his first race since having a stoma formed two years ago.

Paul Scanlon, from Cardiff, was training for the 2022 London marathon when he spotted blood in his poo.

In April that year, an endoscopy confirmed the 54-year-old was living with two large tumours and had stage three bowel cancer.

Now the 54-year-old has completed the Whitchurch 5k in Cardiff - his first race since his diagnosis.

Paul said not being active during his treatment was a huge challenge.

“Running takes you to a place that no other place can take you.

"It can be running, walking or a bit of jogging - it takes your mind and it clears your mind. It sets you up for the day, or if you run in the evening it clears you for the night ahead.

"It is such a pressure release, and to have that so cruelly ripped away from under your feet was incredibly difficult to accept.”

Paul and friends took on the Whitchurch 5k for his first race post-diagnosis

Paul told Radio Wales Breakfast that he had originally refused to have a stoma formed as he "couldn't see there was a life worth living" after the surgery.

He added, “I made the decision to enjoy whatever amount of time I had left on Earth, and enjoy it to the fullest - and that was what I fully intended to do.”

But Paul said he changed his mind after receiving counselling at the Maggie’s Cardiff cancer care centre.

“I say the surgeons and the surgical teams saved my life - but Maggie’s in Cardiff certainly played their part... the counselling and the support that I had from the men’s group and from psychologists put my head into a completely different mindset without me even knowing."

What are the symptoms of bowel cancer?

• Changes in your poo, such as having softer poo, diarrhoea or constipation that is not usual for you

• Needing to poo more or less often than usual for you

• Blood in your poo, which may look red or black

• Bleeding from your bottom

• Often feeling like you need to poo, even if you've just been to the toilet

• Tummy pain

• A lump in your tummy

• Bloating

• Losing weight without trying

• Feeling very tired for no reason

Source: NHS UK

Paul's sisters made him a bear out of their shirts, to hold during his treatment

Paul said the the team at Maggie's talked him through "the big blocker" about having a stoma - how a colostomy bag is fitted to the stomach.

But he said that his mind was changed, after realising that “you’re only going to deal with it once or twice a day for 15 minutes each time".

Paul added that “It was talking through it that helped, and knowing that I’m not going to be thinking about my stoma 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, like I thought I would".

Bowel cancer is the UK's second biggest cancer killer, and fourth most common cancer in Wales.

Every year almost 2,300 people are diagnosed with bowel cancer in Wales and more than 900 people die from the disease.

Cancer Research Wales say that it was historically people over the age of 70 that were more likely to be diagnosed, but that there has been an increase in middle-aged people being diagnosed, particularly people under 50.

The charity said that earlier testing would lead to earlier diagnosis, but that more than 7,000 people in Wales were waiting for a colonoscopy - and that 50% of those had been waiting more than 14 weeks.