THREE years after a doctor told him he shouldn't be alive Carl Williamson is backing a new cancer awareness campaign.

The 47-year-old from Bideford is lucky to be alive after his bowel cancer was diagnosed at North Devon District Hospital.

Now the environmental health technician is speaking publicly about what happened to him.

He said: "I'd felt unwell for a couple of years and kept going back to my GP to say there was something wrong, that I didn't feel right.

"They kept saying it was stress or a virus of some type, so take some time off.

"Then I did a charity walk of about 18 miles.

"I used to be very fit, having just come out of the Army, but I couldn't manage it."

The shock of the physical struggle led Mr Williamson to go to the accident and emergency department at North Devon District Hospital in Barnstaple.

He said: "When the doctor looked at me and did the blood pressure and other checks, he said 'You shouldn't be alive'."

Mr Williamson is now supporting a campaign which aims to encourage more people to go along to their GP if they show possible symptoms of the disease, which kills around 13,000 people a year in the UK.

Having just had his third annual all-clear Carl said: "Looking back on it, I had all the symptoms – the blood in the stool, the stickiness and the rank smell.

"I really welcome the new campaign. It'll help you and your doctor make sure you get checked out quickly if you've got these sorts of symptoms, then get treatment as early as possible if you need it.

"I'd urge anyone with symptoms to make sure they see their doctor early. Don't hang around and end up in hospital when it might be too late.

"I've had two colleagues die from bowel cancer as well, one of them only 37. I think men in particular are embarrassed about having someone, even a doctor, poking around in their backside, but we've got to get over that.

Mr Williamson, who underwent chemotherapy at the same time as his father at Barnstaple, added: "I hate to think how close I was to not being here any more.

"That is why I have got involved with the campaign — to urge people to get checked out."

The Peninsula Cancer Network has been working with hospitals, GPs and primary care trusts across the two counties to prepare for the expected increase in the number of people coming forward to be checked.

Last year's pilot schemes covered the South West and East Anglia and publicised bowel cancer signs and symptoms through media, including the Journal.

Results showed a 48 per cent increase in the number of people who visited their GPs with symptoms.

Dr Virginia Pearson, of NHS Devon and Devon County Council, said: "There's still a bit of a taboo around bowel cancer, but we have to overcome that if we're going to get people with symptoms to see their doctor early.

"The biggest single factor in increasing someone's chances of surviving the disease is being diagnosed early, so treatment is more effective and less intensive."

Meanwhile Carl is now planning a skydive to help raise money for a new chemotherapy unit at NDDH.