Mom Receives Shocking Stage 3 Colon Cancer Diagnosis at 25 — Hours Before It Nearly Turned Fatal

Mar. 15, 2025

Chloe Wakelin’s bowel cancer symptoms began when she was 25.Photo:Kennedy News and Media (2)

Kennedy News and Media (2)

A mom was told she had a stomach bug — but a scary episode of vomiting a “cigarette tar”-like substance led to a cancer diagnosis,sepsis, and emergency surgery.Chloe Wakelin was 25 when she began experiencing stomach flu-like symptoms in 2023 — but as a daycare worker and the mom of a 6-year-old, she assumed she’d picked up a bug from one of the kids.When the symptoms — bloating, nausea, fatigue — persisted, she visited her doctor. After tests for Crohn’s Disease and irritable bowel syndrome came back negative, her doctor said it was, indeed, just a stomach bug, Wakelin told Kennedy News and Media viaThe Daily Mail.Wakelin, who hails from the English town of Rochdale, says her symptoms were easy to dismiss because “I didn’t have the ‘typical’ symptoms for bowel cancer,” which theMayo Clinicsays include bloody stool and weight loss.Chloe Wakelin rests in the hospital after stage 3 bowel cancer diagnosis.Kennedy News and MediaHer condition deteriorated in December of 2023, when she threw up something she described as “like cigarette tar.” She visited the hospital, but says she wasn’t given any tests until she returned a month later — this time, when her skin began“turning yellow.”Jaundice— yellowing of the skin and eyes — is a visible sign that something is wrong with the liver, so Wakelin says she was finally given a scan. That’s when doctors discovered a tumor in her colon, and realized she had already developedsepsis, a life-threatening condition that occurs when the body responds improperly to an infection.She was told she needed to have a portion of her bowel removed immediately.“I was told that if I didn’t have the surgery, I would have had 12 hours to live because my kidney and my liver were failing,” she said. Doctors removed 25 cm of her bowel, along with her lymph nodes, due to the cancer’s spread. She was fitted with a stoma in her stomach, which provides an external way for waste to leave the body, where it’s collected in anostomy bag.Chloe Wakelin shows off her ostomy bag following bowel cancer surgery.Kennedy News and Media“Waking up in recovery, I remember feeling my stomach. It just felt like everything had crumbled around me,” Wakelin told the outlet.“You always think you’re too young at 25 because it’s typically a cancer that affects older people,” Wakelin says, adding that she’s sharing her story to help raise awareness of colon cancer in young people.Rates of colon cancer diagnoses — and deaths from the disease — have steadily increased in people under 50, theAmerican Cancer Societyhas said.“I’d just like to remind everyone to not be ashamed to go to their GP about any symptoms they may be having, no matter your age,” Wakelin said. “It can affect anyone.”Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

A mom was told she had a stomach bug — but a scary episode of vomiting a “cigarette tar”-like substance led to a cancer diagnosis,sepsis, and emergency surgery.

Chloe Wakelin was 25 when she began experiencing stomach flu-like symptoms in 2023 — but as a daycare worker and the mom of a 6-year-old, she assumed she’d picked up a bug from one of the kids.

When the symptoms — bloating, nausea, fatigue — persisted, she visited her doctor. After tests for Crohn’s Disease and irritable bowel syndrome came back negative, her doctor said it was, indeed, just a stomach bug, Wakelin told Kennedy News and Media viaThe Daily Mail.

Wakelin, who hails from the English town of Rochdale, says her symptoms were easy to dismiss because “I didn’t have the ‘typical’ symptoms for bowel cancer,” which theMayo Clinicsays include bloody stool and weight loss.

Chloe Wakelin rests in the hospital after stage 3 bowel cancer diagnosis.Kennedy News and Media

Kennedy News and Media

Her condition deteriorated in December of 2023, when she threw up something she described as “like cigarette tar.” She visited the hospital, but says she wasn’t given any tests until she returned a month later — this time, when her skin began“turning yellow.”

Jaundice— yellowing of the skin and eyes — is a visible sign that something is wrong with the liver, so Wakelin says she was finally given a scan. That’s when doctors discovered a tumor in her colon, and realized she had already developedsepsis, a life-threatening condition that occurs when the body responds improperly to an infection.

She was told she needed to have a portion of her bowel removed immediately.

“I was told that if I didn’t have the surgery, I would have had 12 hours to live because my kidney and my liver were failing,” she said. Doctors removed 25 cm of her bowel, along with her lymph nodes, due to the cancer’s spread. She was fitted with a stoma in her stomach, which provides an external way for waste to leave the body, where it’s collected in anostomy bag.

Chloe Wakelin shows off her ostomy bag following bowel cancer surgery.Kennedy News and Media

“Waking up in recovery, I remember feeling my stomach. It just felt like everything had crumbled around me,” Wakelin told the outlet.

“You always think you’re too young at 25 because it’s typically a cancer that affects older people,” Wakelin says, adding that she’s sharing her story to help raise awareness of colon cancer in young people.

Rates of colon cancer diagnoses — and deaths from the disease — have steadily increased in people under 50, theAmerican Cancer Societyhas said.

“I’d just like to remind everyone to not be ashamed to go to their GP about any symptoms they may be having, no matter your age,” Wakelin said. “It can affect anyone.”

Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

source: people.com