Lorraine: Adele Roberts gives health update
Adele Roberts has admitted that hearing about George Alagiah’s struggles with bowel cancer had inspired her in how she dealt with her own diagnosis, in a poignant tribute on Twitter.
The news of George’s death, aged 67, broke today and his fellow bowel cancer sufferer wasted no time in telling her 70,000 followers how she felt.
“So sad to hear about this. Thinking of George’s family, friends and colleagues,” the DJ wrote.
“Reading about George and his journey with bowel cancer helped me & [fiancée Kate Holderness] so much. He’s one of the reasons I kept so active during chemo & inspired me to help raise awareness of stomas. Amazing man.”
Unlike George, whose diagnosis didn’t come until he’d reached stage four, and the deadly disease had spread to his lymph nodes and liver, Adele was diagnosed at stage two – and she’s confirmed that spotting it promptly may have saved her life.
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That’s why she was devastated to learn that, after a decade of battling, George had died.
Her diagnosis came in 2021 – the same year that the NHS launched a campaign to raise awareness of its free testing kits.
“It took me a while to pluck up the courage to call my GP at first,” Adele told Bowel Cancer UK, admitting that she’d put off reaching out about her symptoms as she felt “embarrassed” and “didn’t want to be a burden to the NHS”.
However, she says she need not have worried as her doctor quickly put her “at ease” and provided a free kit to test for the condition “in the comfort of my own home”.
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“Soon after I was diagnosed with stage 2 bowel cancer, which was very nearly developing into stage 3,” she elaborated.
“Getting the help I needed in time helped save my life. If you’re worried please speak to someone [as] early detection saves lives and it helped save mine.”
Meanwhile, during his own NHS campaign, George had also reiterated that, had the free testing service been automatically available before, his life could have been saved.
“Had I been screened, I could have been picked up. I would have been screened at least three times and possibly four by the time I was 58 and this would have been caught at the stage of a little polyp,” he agonised.
George had added: “We know that if you catch bowel cancer early, survival rates are tremendous.”
Meanwhile, Bowel Cancer UK recently released the bleak statistic that someone in the UK dies every 30 minutes from the condition, warning: “In the time it takes to watch an episode of your favourite soap, one family will lose a loved one to bowel cancer.”
“It doesn’t have to be this way as it’s treatable and curable.”
Meanwhile, George’s agent released a statement, paying tribute to a “wonderful” man, who’d “died peacefully today, surrounded by his family and loved ones”, after touching the lives of many.