MOBOs founder Kanya King looked radiant as she took to the red carpet at this year’s awards at the Utilita Arena Newcastle on Tuesday.
The businesswoman, 56, was all smiles at the event and looked incredible in a gold off the shoulder gown with long sleeves.
Ms. King’s attendance at the event comes just weeks after announcing she has been diagnosed with terminal bowel cancer and has just months to live.
She was given the heartbreaking news in September after months of struggling with fatigue and abdominal pain.
Although Ms King had noticed changes in her bowel movements, these had been off and on and she didn’t suspect the symptom was a sign of something sinister.
‘I assumed it was the overactive thyroid — and I did get my bowel back on track. There were so many things my symptoms could have been. I never once saw blood,’ she said.
MOBOs founder Kanya King, 56, looked radiant as she took to the red carpet at this year’s awards at the Utilita Arena Newcastle on Tuesday
The businesswoman was all smiles at the event and looked incredible in a gold off the shoulder gown with long sleeves
Ms. King’s attendance at the event comes just weeks after announcing she has been diagnosed with terminal bowel cancer and has just months to live
It wasn’t until the summer of 2024 that she went to the GP after a salad left her feeling so ill she had to crawl back into bed to sleep it off.
The doctor ran several tests for deficiencies that are associated with tiredness, such a iron and vitamin D — which all came back clear.
But knowing there was something wrong she went back again and a doctor suspected it could be gastroenteritis, also known as the stomach flu or food poisoning.
Eventually she did an initial bowel cancer test which came back negative, before she finally took a faecal immunochemical test (FIT).
The test, which is 99 per cent accurate at detecting traces of blood, came back positive.
Ms King had a colonoscopy and then a scan, where doctors found a tumour.
Then, in September 2024, she finally received the devastating news that she had stage 4 bowel cancer that had spread to her liver and lymph nodes and was told it was terminal.
Her care would be palliative and that she had six months left to live.
She was given the heartbreaking news in September after months of struggling with fatigue and abdominal pain (Pictured: Kanya King celebrates the MOBOs 25th anniversary in 2022)
Now, Ms King is on her fourth round of chemotherapy. She did her research and requested tweaks to the type and the dosage of her chemo, plus she eliminated all potentially carcinogenic foods from her diet and sticks to organic vegetables.
Bowel cancer symptoms include changes in bowel movements such as consistent and new diarrhoea or constipation, needing or feeling the need to poo more or less frequently and blood in the stool.
Stomach pain, a lump in the stomach, bloating, unexpected weight-loss and fatigue are among other common signs.
It’s thought that 50 per cent of cases are preventable, with 28 per cent of cases linked to eating too little fibre. That’s in comparison to 13 per cent caused by processed meat.
There is an NHS screening programme, which automatically sends out FIT home-testing kits if you are between 54 and 74 and registered with a GP.
It all began in 1969; Kanya grew up in a small council flat in Kilburn, north-west London, the youngest of nine children to her Ghanaian dad, Christian Ocloo, and her Irish mum
For the at home test, called a faecal immunochemical test (FIT), you need to collect a small sample and send it to a lab. It’s then checked for tiny amounts of blood.
If your test is positive, you will be invited for a colonoscopy where doctors can find your cancer early before symptoms start. Doctors may also find and remove polyps, preventing them from growing into colorectal cancer.
Catching bowel cancer early can be life-saving. But for Ms King, she slipped through the net — fatigue can be caused by numerous illnesses and she did not take part in the home-screening test.
She now stresses the importance of advocating for your health, even if you just don’t ‘feel yourself’.