GRAN'S MISSION TO STOP PEOPLE DYING OF EMBARRASSMENT

A GRANNY nearly died of embarrassment after binning bowel cancer screening kits before being diagnosed with an advanced form of the disease.

- JAMES CARTLEDGE News Reporter

Karen Stephens, of Oldbury, says her pride nearly killed her after refusing to visit the doctor with tummy cramps and diarrhoea.

The gran-of-11 was later diagnosed with stage three bowel cancer and has welcomed a £5.5 million grant from Cancer Research UK and partners to find kinder, better treatments for people living with bowel cancer.

Karen, who has four children, and put on a type of immunotherapy usually used for womb cancer, and said she was lucky to be alive after ignoring symptoms for weeks.

"At first, I thought I'd caught a bug from one of the grandchildren," the former carer said.