Video: Colon Cancer Can Strike Even Younger Adults

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Starkville, Miss. (WCBI) – We are all guilty of putting off check-ups and doctor visits, even when our bodies tell us something is wrong. But for one young lady, not paying attention to what she thought were simple symptoms turned out to be something much more frightening. Shauntay Hinton has her story.

Hanging out with friends, planning a future with a significant other, working a dream job, these are just a few of the little things young people in their twenties think about on a daily basis. For Nashira Beckum  much bigger challenge loomed.

“They said they have never seen anyone with the colon cancer, so that was pretty scary for me. And I dunno, being 29 with colon cancer, that’s a big deal for me. And I hear about people dying, that could have been me.”

Nashira says her symptoms of severe cramping and bleeding appeared suddenly yet she brushed off much of what she was experiencing as minor happenings.

“I ignored the symptoms, so I went to the doctor, and he said it looks like you have colon cancer.”

Even when her doctors told her to seek a second opinion, because it was so rare for a person her age to have colorectal cancer. According to the American Cancer Society, only about ten percent of new cases occur in people under the age of fifty. However, the results of a new study say this number could jump in the coming years, This frightening diagnosis didn’t shake Nashira’s faith. She credits God, family, and friends as an important part of her recovery. Doctors recommend regular colorectal cancer screenings starting at age fifty, which may explain why diagnosis rates for those fifty and older actually decreased. But Nashira has some sound advice of her own.

“Get yourself checked out! Just go to the doctor ’cause you never know what’s going on. No one…People say they knows their body, but you don’t know.” For WCBI, Shauntay Hinton.

Nashira has been cancer free for two years