Stowmarket resident Gary Welsh, 35, recounts ‘roller coaster’ journey of incurable bowel cancer diagnosis

A man who was diagnosed with stage four bowel cancer aged 34 after going to hospital with flu-like symptoms has spoken of his ‘roller coaster of emotions’ as he raises funds for treatment.

Gary Welsh, of Stowmarket, was diagnosed in late 2021 and has now launched a GoFundMe page to raise £50,000 to fund a cancer treatment drug not available on the NHS.

After going to hospital with a high temperature and infection-related symptoms, a CT scan found a cancerous mass in Gary’s bowel which led to six months of chemotherapy.

Despite this treatment, scan results in June showed it was not successful and the cancer was incurable.

Gary, 35, said: “When you’re told it's cancer, straight away you think you’re going to die and you feel like it could happen tomorrow.

“It was totally out of the blue and we’re not sure when it actually started.

“At the time, I was getting pretty worried and I didn’t really know what was going on - but the last thing that you think is that it’s going to be cancer.

“I considered myself to be quite a healthy person and it just goes to show how it can happen to anyone at any time.”

The diagnosis was a complete shock for Gary and his wife Lizzy as he had been living an active and healthy lifestyle, often going to the gym three to four times a week.

According to Cancer Research UK, there are 42,900 new bowel cancer cases every year in the UK which is nearly 120 per day.

By 2030, bowel cancer is likely to become the leading cause of cancer deaths for people between 20 to 49 years old.

The disease has seen a surge in awareness after Dame Deborah James, known as the ‘Bowel Babe’, campaigned for charity before her death last June.

Gary, who works as a senior account manager in Mildenhall, has refused to let cancer ruin his life and he is working hard to keep a positive mindset going into the future.

He has now reduced his working hours to focus on the things he enjoys like walking his dogs around Woolverstone, near Ipswich, exploring his surroundings on hikes and learning how to use a drone.

He said: “I had a couple of weeks of breaking down into tears - especially when I was told that it was incurable - it was just a roller coaster of emotions.

“I’ve had counselling which really helped me get through to where I am now.

“There’s wobbles from time to time - but we stay positive, work through it all and just see how we go, really.”

Gary and Lizzy will be taking part in a marathon walk along the Suffolk coast over the Easter period from Sizewell to Felixstowe.

The GoFundMe page was set up by his sister, Zoe, and to help fund his future treatments you can donate by clicking here.

Charity events including a football match are being discussed for the near future to keep the fundraising streams going.

Gary added: “I used to be very work and career focused, leaving the house at 7.30am and not finishing until 6pm most days - I think a lot of people experience this similar kind of routine.

“But when this happened, it just changed my whole outlook - none of us really know how long we’ve got left at the end of the day.

“In my mind, if you just let it overtake your entire life and you sit at home being miserable - you’re not enjoying your life anyway, so what’s the point?

“We are hopeful that the right treatments will happen at the right times and we might be able to get there - it’s all about not losing hope.”