A cancer survivor says comedian Ed Byrne saved her life after she ignored her symptoms until she heard him make a joke about diarrhoea at a stand-up gig.
Jackie Kaines Lang, 60, had been experiencing diarrhoea for a couple of months when she went to one of Ed's gigs.
The Irish comic's routine referenced someone going to the GP because they had a long-standing case of diarrhoea.
Just weeks later, Jackie was diagnosed with stage three bowel cancer and said that if she might have put off going to the doctors even long had she not heard Ed's joke.
Ed, who lost his brother to Paul to cancer, said doctors deserved the credit.
Jackie said: "He made the joke about someone seeking medical advice after having diarrhoea for over three weeks.
"Everyone knows that if you've had your stomach upset for that long, you need to go and get it checked out.
"At that point I thought about how I had the symptoms for a long time - but I didn't know they were symptoms then.
"It was that joke that promoted me the next day to phone the doctor and make an appointment.
"If I hadn't of heard Ed's joke, I might have put it off a bit longer."
Jackie, who was diagnosed with cancer in October 2015, has said that when she was diagnosed she felt like her brain had suddenly gone into a 'cancer brain.'
The grandmother-of-four said: "It was sort of shocking and numbing.
"I had sort of thought that I had cancer, but of course you are always hoping that's not the news you're going to be given but I thought it was going to be the news.
"I remember feeling like I had gone into a new brain space that I hadn't been in before which was sort of the cancer brain.
"That feels like you're in a separate part from everyone you love and whoever is talking to you at that moment.
"It just feels like a random load of stuff that has flooded into your brain."
The main symptoms of bowel cancer are having blood in your poo, diarrhoea for three weeks or more and having abdominal pain or discomfort after eating.
Around 42,900 people in the UK are diagnosed with bowel cancer a year, and 78.3% of them survive.
Jackie, who finished chemotherapy in August 2016, is now encouraging others who may have some symptoms to go and visit their GP.
She said: "I was self-justifying my symptoms as other things, because it seemed so unlikely to me that I would have bowel cancer.
"But I think as far as embarrassment or shame or discomfort is concerned, what is the worst that can happened?
"The worst that can happen is that you do hear the diagnosis that you have cancer but ultimately that diagnosis could be the thing that saves or prolongs your life.
"Your GP wants to save your life and the NHS also want to save your life."
The writer added: "That likelihood is that you have the symptoms and you go and see your GP, it probably won't be anything serious.
"There are other reasons for them but that's not a reason not to go - you should go anyway, just because it could be.
"Your GP would be delighted to tell you it isn't anything but will be delighted even more if they catch someone's cancer early."
The mum-of-four has ran the Edinburgh Women's 10k in aid of Bowel Cancer UK, to celebrate that she is 'still here and well.'
Jackie, of Berwick-upon-Tweed, Northumberland,. said: "I was about to turn 60 and I just thought it would be a great way to turn 60 as I've never ran 10k before.
"I'm celebrating that I'm still here and I'm well and fit.
"I love the fact I'm fit and can enjoy my body and enjoy my life."
Ed, who has starred on TV shows including Mock the Week and Live at the Apollo, told BBC Newcastle: "I am very happy the whole thing has had a very happy resolution.
"Of all the routines I have had to suddenly be out there, why did it have to be the one about me having diarrhoea for three weeks?
"I would stop short of calling it a life-saving routine. Let me at least share the credit with the doctors, I would say they did most of the life saving."
Genevieve Edwards, chief executive at Bowel Cancer UK, says: “We think comedy is a brilliant way of breaking down the stigma of talking about poo, and so we’re thrilled that Ed Byrne’s joke struck a chord with Jackie.
"I would strongly encourage everyone to check their poo and if something has changed or doesn’t look right to you, then don’t wait – contact your doctor.
"Bowel cancer is the UK’s fourth most common cancer, and the second biggest cancer killer but it doesn’t have to be this way.
"It’s treatable if diagnosed early and by going straight to your GP it’s possible to rule out bowel cancer first and fast."
You can donate to Jackie's Just Giving Page here https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/jacqueline-kaines-lang
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