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Today the news broke that the bowel cancer screening age will be reduced from 60 to 50 in England and Wales. This is the result of a lot of hard work by an awful lot of people putting pressure on government to make this change to match Scotland, where the screening age is already at 50.
I must give a very special mention to the inspirational and quite wonderful Lauren Backler, who has turned the devastation of losing her mum, Fiona, to bowel cancer in 2015, into an amazing campaign to get the bowel cancer screening age reduced from 60 to 50. Lauren set up an online petition , which has had almost 500,000 signatures. Lauren has appeared across the national media, and has even spoken at Westminster.
Today's news means that over 4,000 people could have their bowel cancer detected at a much earlier stage, giving them a much greater chance of survival. Lauren's mother would have been screened a number of times if this had been the case, and most likely still be here today. Unfortunately by the time she was diagnosed her condition was terminal, and she lived for just a few months. I know Lauren doesn't want others to go through the devastation that her family has experienced. I am sure that Fiona Backler would be so so proud of what her daughter has achieved.
I was fortunate enough to meet Lauren last year for my forthcoming book. She is a very kind, giving and generous person, but also with a steely determination to achieve a successful outcome to her campaign. Although the reasons why I come into contact with so many people for the book are based on a common loss and sadness due to bowel cancer, the wonderful thing is how new friendships are being made with some very special people, and she is certainly one of those.
