BBC’S BOWEN: I’VE GOT BOWEL CANCER

TV veteran in awareness bid

ILLNESS Jeremy Bowen JEREMY Bowen has revealed he has bowel cancer on television, in the hope that more people get tested.

The veteran BBC journalist, 59, said he was diagnosed in October, after suffering from pains in his legs and back.

He told BBC Breakfast: “I had none of the classic bowel cancer symptoms. But I thought that I should get a test.”

When it came back positive, Jeremy had a colonoscopy – a camera inserted into his colon. He added: “It is not nearly as bad as it sounds – they give you lots of drugs.”

Surgeons removed a tumour and he started chemotherapy.

He said: “I had kept quiet about it, except to my nearest and dearest.” But as April is Bowel Cancer Awareness Month, he added: “I thought ‘Why not?’

“If me coming on your programme means a few extra people get tested and get their cancers caught, then it’s time well spent.” Jeremy, who is now a patron of the Bowel Cancer UK charity, said: “Things to do with your bowels and poo are not things people normally want to talk about. But actually it’s part of all our lives and you need to work on it.”

After the show, BBC Middle East Editor Jeremy – who once reported from Egypt with a head injury after he was caught by a rubber bullet in a military coup in Cairo – said he was “overwhelmed and touched” by messages of support. Last year, fellow BBC star Bill Turnbull was praised for raising awareness of prostate cancer by talking about his life with the disease. NHS England said it led to 70,000 visits to its advice page, a 250% increase on the monthly average. INJURY Jeremy in Egypt