I was fit as a fiddle and didn't feel ill... then docs said I had cancer

A DAD who was given a devastating cancer bombshell at the age of just 39 is now running marathons.

- By HELENA VESTY

Paul Swift, 40, who is married to Jess and has a five-year-old daughter, Elsie, was diagnosed with early stage rectal cancer, a type of bowel cancer, in August 2023, after spotting a warning sign.

"I'd noticed a bit of blood for six or seven months, but it was intermittent and kept it to myself," said Paul, from Prestwich.

"I thought it might be piles and wasn't too worried, but when I mentioned it to Jess she made me get it checked out.

"A colonoscopy confirmed it was cancer and I thought 'oh my god, my life's over! My daughter was only three-years-old, so would I see her grow up?

When Paul noticed the blood he was just four weeks off running his first marathon, which he'd been training hard for.

"I was fit as a fiddle, had no side effects and didn't feel ill. It was such a shock. I was only 39 and I didn't think people got bowel cancer at my age," he said.

"I was given the option of surgery to rip everything out, and I would be left with a stoma bag for the rest of my life. Or I could go on a trial at The Christie, so straight away I said 'get me to The Christie."

Paul was referred to The Christie cancer hospital in Withington, and immediately started on a clinical trial funded by Yorkshire Cancer Research called APHRODITE. This trial is investigating whether a higher dose of radiotherapy increases the likelihood of successfully treating the rectal cancer and avoiding the need for surgery.