"This is myself and my lovely husband Marc. Marc was a healthy fit 46-year-old. He ran marathons, never smoked, didn't eat fast food, never needed the doctors and didn't take any medications. The last person you'd expect to get sick.

So, when in 2020 he started having abdominal pain, feeling tired, and not eating as well. I started getting worried. After a few months he eventually went to the GP, who examined him and straight away sent him off for a colonoscopy. The surgeon then told us Marc had a tumour and it was cancerous.

After being referred to our Cancer Centre and Marc having surgery to remove the tumor, we were then told it was Stage 4. The cancer had spread to his liver. Up to this point we didn't know anyone who had cancer - no family members, no friends. We had four boys, and all our family were back in the UK. Luckily, we had fabulous friends around us. Marc is still here, even though the cancer has grown.

I decided to do something to try and help in my own very small way. That's why I did a birthday donation on Facebook and asked my friends to help out.

We need to find out why seemingly healthy people are getting bowel cancer and why younger people are too." ~ Michele & Marc.


If you were inspired by Michele's fundraising efforts and would like to support Bowel Cancer Australia through a Facebook Fundraiser in celebration of your birthday further details are available here