Norwich Son Tackles Edinburgh Marathon For Hospital Charity

Shaun Lowthorpe is grabbing his running shoes and tackling the Edinburgh Marathon in a bid to raise money for the Bowel Cancer Screening Fund, part of the hospital charity, at Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital.

Shaun‘s family had experience of the ‘wonderful’ NNUH bowel screening team when his father, Walter, was successfully diagnosed and treated for bowel cancer at the hospital.

Shaun said: “Without the screening team at the hospital my dad Walter would not be alive today. They first diagnosed that he had cancer and since then he has been successfully treated and has not looked back since.”

Shaun continued: “‘My Dad, now 70, received his bowel screening test kit in the post in late 2007 and although he displayed no symptoms and felt well, he was asked to undergo further tests. Following a colonoscopy he was diagnosed with bowel cancer. After surgery to remove sections of his bowel Dad received eight months of chemotherapy sessions and fortunately after follow-up treatment was given the all clear.”

In 2006 Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital (NNUH) was one the first sites to introduce the new national screening programme to help detect bowel cancer at an early stage when treatment is more likely to be effective. The test does not diagnose bowel cancer but gives an indication as to whether further investigations are required by the bowel cancer screening team at NNUH.

Louise Cook, fundraising manager, said: “We are absolutely delighted that Shaun is supporting the bowel cancer screening fund, part of the hospital charity. To remember and support the team which diagnosed the cancer early is a reflection of the care and support they give to our patients. Money raised will be spent in screening bowel cancer.”

For further information about NNUH and to find out how to support the charity, please call 01603 287107 or visit www.nnuh.nhs.uk.

To sponsor Shaun please go to https://mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/shaunsedinburghmarathon2015

Note to editors
Bowel Screening is a national programme and means those more than 60 years old are sent a simple test kit to complete in the privacy of their home. The test involves collecting a small sample from three separate bowel motions. Using a specially designed prepaid envelope, the kit is then returned to the laboratory for analysis.

The NNUH laboratory analyses the samples, looking for tiny traces of blood that may be invisible to the naked eye and invites patients in if they believe and further investigation is required.
The Edinburgh Marathon is on 31st May.