A father-of-three who was diagnosed with bowel cancer at just 31-years-old has urged others not to dismiss a little-known sign of the aggressive disease.
Chris Kirt started suffering irregular bowel movements and stomach cramps in August 2024 but he shrugged them off as nothing to worry about, reluctant to seek help.
But, when he started experiencing one ‘stand out’ symptom, he knew it could be something more serious.
‘The one red flag that was really worrying was actually the fact that I had zero pain when I was passing a bowel movement and there was blood,’ he told his 12,000 TikTok followers.
‘This was the thing that scared me to death more than anything and I knew in my heart it was cancer.’
Recalling the run-up to his devastating diagnosis he said: ‘There were the typical symptoms you’d expect: irregular bowel movements, cramps, urgency to got the bathroom, not being able to go to the bathroom.
‘But this stood out more than anything. When you have blood you expect to have some sort of pain. There was zero pain for me.’
According to the NHS, bowel cancer sufferers may experience bleeding from the rectum or blood in the stool, but this can be painless.
An anal fissure—a small tear in the anus that usually is not serious—causes severe sharp pain typically accompanied by bright red blood.
Mr Kirt added: ‘I was losing thick, dark red blood which was light to begin with dark at the end with zero pain whatsoever.’
Common symptoms of bowel cancer include bleeding from the rectum, abdominal pain, unexplained weight loss, extreme fatigue and needing to go to the toilet with more urgency than usual.
Despite knowing that something was wrong, a long waiting list stood between Mr Kirt and a explorative colonoscopy to check inside his bowels to identify exactly what was causing his symptoms.
But, luckily the young father had taken out private health insurance just a few years prior, after his grandfather passed away following a gruelling battle with pancreatic cancer.
As his condition rapidly deteriorated, Mr Kirt decided to pay for the procedure privately—which should have cost over £1,700—desperate to get a diagnosis.
Speaking about the colonoscopy that finally revealed his cancer, he said: ‘I had been sedated, but I still aware of what’s going on.
‘I look at the screen and the first thing I see is this big giant snotty ball on the side of my colon.
Chris had just proposed to his partner, Lauren, 26 (pictured) when his condition rapidly deteriorated
Chris experienced a number of tell-tale warning signs, but it was only when he started bleeding without pain that he thought it could be something more serious
‘I know it’s not right. The room goes quiet. The doctors aren’t saying anything. I look at the screen and say what is that—that’s cancer.’
‘I don’t remember anything after that.
‘I woke up and I was in the recovery room. I see a doctor to my left with a notepad and a few nurses to my right and I immediately knew it wasn’t good.’
Speaking to the MailOnline, Mr Kirt added: ‘This part of my journey was a complete rollercoaster.
‘When I first woke up the doctor was very calm. He explained that they had found something “suspicious”.’
Doctors then ordered a CT scan of his throarx—the area of the body between the neck and the abdomen containing vital organs such as the heart and lungs—abdomen and pelvis.
‘That began a four week wait until I was officially told it was cancer,’ he said.
‘But my initial prognosis was a complete unknown. The scans had shown some other concerning findings and for a while there was speculation about lymphoma or even metastatic bowel cancer—meaning it had already spread.
‘It was an incredibly stressful and confusing time.’
The newly-engaged software developer was eventually diagnosed with stage 2 bowel cancer has since undergone surgery to have a third of his bowel removed and is now in remission.
Reflecting on his experience he said: ‘Without a doubt, the most beneficial change has been learning to advocate relentlessly for my own health and using my voice to help others.
‘My experience of being initially dismissed has fueled my passion to ensure no one else, particularly another young person, has to fight so hard to be heard.’
He is now campaigning to lower the screening age for the disease and for more accessible testing for high-risk individuals.
‘While lowering the screening age to 50 in England is a step in the right direction, it isn’t enough,’ Mr Kirt explained.
‘We need bold, direct campaigns that speak to a younger audience, normalise conversations about bowel health, and remove the stigma. The message must be unequivocal: You are never too young to get bowel cancer.’
There are around 44,100 new cases of bowel cancer every year in the UK, making it the third most common cancer.
Cancer Research UK estimated over half of bowel cancer cases in the UK are preventable.
But cases are rising in young people, an alarming trend that experts have linked to modern diets, chemical exposure and mobile phone radiation.
Although the vast majority of bowel cancer diagnoses affect those aged over 50, rates in older age-groups have held while diagnoses in youngsters are soaring.
Rising obesity levels have led to a tripling of deaths from cancers linked to being overweight, American medics have warned.
This included deaths from bowel and colon cancer, a form of the disease known to be mysteriously rising among young healthy adults under 50.
While obesity is thought to be responsible for about 5 per cent of all cancers in the UK, this dramatically increases for certain types.
For bowel cancer—which includes colon and rectal cancer—obesity or being overweight triggers 11 per cent of all cases of this disease.
Men are especially at risk with research suggesting a man’s risk of developing bowel cancer increases by 10 per cent for every 11lbs (5kg) he puts on in adulthood.
While the disease is known linked to obesity, experts have noted that the disease also seems to also be occurring in fit and healthy patients.
Some experts believe the explanation must lie in environmental factors young people have been exposed to more than previous generations.
While no ‘smoking gun’ has been found, there are multiple theories.
These include modern chemicals in diets, microplastics, pollution, and one recent study even pinned the surge on exposure to E. coli in food.