Meet the stars of our new video

To mark the first day of Bowel Cancer Awareness Month we launched a new video to raise awareness of the disease, who we are and to encourage people to join us.

The stars of our video all have a connection to bowel cancer and kindly agreed to take part to help shine a light on the varied and many people affected by the disease. Here's more about their stories:

Sophie Anderson

Sophie was diagnosed with bowel cancer just before she turned 22 and first started experiencing symptoms when she was 18. Sophie wants to share her story to encourage more young people to get help if they're experiencing symptoms because "being told 'you're way too young' simply doesn't cut it anymore."

Ian McAlpine

Ian was diagnosed with stage 3 bowel cancer in June 2017, at the age of 63. Following surgery and chemotherapy, Ian became a volunteer for us in 2018 giving awareness talks in Glasgow. Ian says: "If you've been newly diagnosed try to keep positive. The sooner you're treated the better. You can make a full recovery like me."

Dr Anisha Patel

Anisha was diagnosed with stage 3 bowel cancer in September 2018, aged 39. She's a GP with two children and her husband is a Consultant Gastroenterologist. Anisha has done so much to raise awareness and share her story in particular on her Instagram account @doctorsgetcancertoo

Wynne Roberts

Wynne was diagnosed with bowel cancer in October 2019 after ignoring the symptoms for several months. Since diagnosis he has been treated with chemotherapy and radiotherapy as well as surgery. Wynne now volunteers for the charity and gives awareness talks across Wales in Welsh.

Dr Alex Greenhough

Dr Alex Greenhough is the lead researcher of a project we're funding at the University of the West of England investigating ways to improve chemoradiotherapy for rectal cancer patients. In the future, they hope this work will mean more tailored treatment decisions can be made for each individual bowel cancer patient.

Dr Kevin Monahan

Kevin is a Consultant Gastroenterologist based at St Mark's Hospital in London and is a member of our medical advisory board.

Genevieve Edwards

Genevieve is Chief Executive of Bowel Cancer UK and joined the charity in February 2020.

Watch our video by clicking on the image above.