My symptoms of bowel cancer: I'm 32, eat healthy, rarely drink and have no family history - but in February I was handed a stage 4 diagnosis
In February, Brisbane mum Samantha Barry's world was flipped upside down with a shock diagnosis she never saw coming.
At only 32 years old, the successful interior designer with a passion for creativity was diagnosed with stage four bowel cancer - despite having no family history and living what she describes as a 'very healthy lifestyle'.
As the rates of bowel cancer skyrocket among Australians aged 25-44, Sammy is sharing her story, symptoms and words of advice to support Bowel Cancer Awareness Month and assist in finding some form of solution.
Before her shock diagnosis, Sammy was working full-time and enjoying life as a wife and mum to her 16-month-old daughter Freddie and their 'second child' - a three-year-old Australian Shepherd named Ned.
'My lifestyle is healthy. I felt healthy,' she told FEMAIL.
'I would go to Pilates every week, we eat well, I don't binge drink. I've never smoked a cigarette.'
Originally from Melbourne, Sammy and her husband met on the dancefloor at an Irish pub when she was just 22, and the rest is history.
After six months of dating, she followed him back to Queensland, where he's originally from, to start a life together.
At only 32 years old, the successful interior designer with a passion for creativity was diagnosed with stage four bowel cancer - despite having no family history and living what she describes as a 'very healthy lifestyle'
He was also the first person Sammy called in a panic when she noticed 'something was wrong, really wrong.'
'I was at work, and I noticed that there was some blood in my stools,' she said.
'I hadn't noticed that ever before, or I just hadn't realised, but [it was] the first time that I'd really noticed it.
'I called my husband from the toilet cubicle in my office, and I just said to him, "I just have this terrible feeling about it".'
Sammy burst into tears in front of her boss and then called to book in at her GP within the hour to find out what was going on.
'My GP is amazing. Every specialist I've seen has praised how incredible she was to take me seriously first of all and referred me straight away,' she said.
Her GP warned that her one symptom could be something as serious as cancer, but it could also just be haemorrhoids - which are very common among new mums.
What followed was a full colonoscopy, which Sammy said was her saving grace as surprisingly 'a lot of people don't get referred straight away, and have to really advocate for themselves'.
Other symptoms of bowel cancer, like extreme tiredness, are often overlooked in young mums too. This was something Sammy had been experiencing, but put it down to sleepless nights with her daughter Freddie.
Sammy's colonoscopy results were shocking - a four-centimetre tumour and a polyp were discovered in her bowel. It was February 19th, her husband's birthday.
'Before the big surgery, [the surgeon] said, "If you wake up and I'm not there, then it's all good. But, if I'm there, then it's something more serious and I'll talk to you about it",' she recalled.
The experts knew Sammy's condition was serious, but until the official biopsy results came back, they still didn't have all the answers, especially knowing what stage her cancer was at.
In just a few weeks, she was booked in for a lower bowel resection surgery, a major operation to remove the tumour as well as the surrounding lymph nodes.
Three days later, the surgeon told Sammy that her cancer was worryingly at stage four and, after recovery from surgery, she'd face six months of chemotherapy.
Twelve gruelling rounds, every two weeks.
'My cancer is quite aggressive,' Sammy said.
With unwavering support from her loving husband, family, and in-laws, who have all rallied around her during this life-changing time, Sammy remains fiercely optimistic.
'Chemo is quite full-on, because I feel really crappy for seven days, and then I feel almost normal for seven days. So, I try and make the most of my good weeks,' she said.
One of her biggest comforters is her dog, Ned.
'He's been really sweet throughout my treatment. He just comes and cuddles with me all day when I'm feeling sick, it's so sweet. It's like they [dogs] just know when you're not feeling well,' she said.
In a bid to preserve her fertility, Sammy also went through two back-to-back rounds of egg-freezing before her chemo started.
'We wanted to grow our family this year and had to put that on hold. So we decided to do embryo freezing, which [the experts] recommended for us,' she said.
Australia's bowel cancer spike: Why are so many young people being diagnosed?
As of 2025, one in nine bowel cancer diagnoses in Australia is under 50 - a stark change from the 'old person's disease' it was once framed as.
The rates are rising for young people globally, but in Australia it is now the deadliest cancer for those aged 25-44.
Worryingly, there has also been been a 266 per cent increase in bowel cancer rates in adolescents and young adults (15-24 years) over the past three decades.
There are more than 1,700 people under 50 diagnosed with bowel cancer in Australia each year; 288 people under 50 die from the disease each year.
While the exact reasons aren't known, early research has pointed at a range of factors including diets of high processed foods, poor gut microbiome, increased consumption of microplastics, a lack of fibre in modern diets, too much red/processed meat, genetics, exposure to E. coli as a child and more diligence with screening tests.
You can learn more about early on-set bowel cancer and its symptoms here.
Once treatment is complete, Sammy plans to launch her own interior design firm and is dreaming of a family holiday to Japan to celebrate a new chapter.
But more than anything, she's determined to raise awareness around the importance of early detection, especially among younger Australians.
'My diagnosis was just such a shock, because I didn't know anything about bowel cancer. I'd never even thought about it and I didn't know the symptoms, literally nothing,' she said.
Bowel cancer is Australia's second deadliest cancer, yet it's highly treatable when caught early. More than 16,000 people are diagnosed each year, according to Cancer Council NSW, and rates in younger Australians are on the rise.
That's why Sammy has also launched a GoFundMe campaign to raise funds and awareness for a charity now very close to her heart.
'I don't want people to be in a similar situation to me, so raising funds for Bowel Cancer Australia is really important to help other people,' she said.
Her message is clear and urgent:
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