Bowel cancer testing kit 'saved my life'

A woman who was diagnosed with bowel cancer after using a self-testing kit has said it saved her life.

Wendy Lyons, 46, thought she was going through the menopause when she started getting headaches and pains.

Her GP initially reassured her it was unlikely to be cancer, offering her the test as a precaution.

It showed up positive and as a result her cancer was picked up so early she avoided both chemotherapy and major side effects from her operation.

The mother-of-three lives in Eastwood, Nottinghamshire, a county leading the way in the use of Faecal Immunochemical Tests or FIT, which can tell doctors whether a more expensive and uncomfortable colonoscopy is needed.

The test is this year being sent to everyone over 60 as part of the national screening programme and is already widely used in Scotland.