At first, Vicki Steyert thought it was something simple—maybe stress or something she ate.
But when she found herself running to the bathroom up to ten times a day, and then started noticing blood in the toilet, alarm bells rang.
The then-33-year-old pharmacy manager from Wigan, Manchester, knew something wasn’t right.
With two kids to care for—one of them still growing inside her—she didn’t expect the journey ahead would nearly claim her life, then hand her back a future thanks to a groundbreaking NHS transplant.
Dismissed Because She Was “Too Young” for Bowel Cancer
When Vicki went to her GP, all tests came back clear.
Her symptoms were chalked up to irritable bowel syndrome—a frustrating but not life-threatening condition.
Even a private consultant reassured her it was nothing serious, despite her concerns.
“I brought up bowel cancer,” Vicki said, “but the consultant told me I didn’t look like someone who had it—I hadn’t lost much weight, I wasn’t jaundiced. And I was just too young.”
At that point, Vicki was seven weeks pregnant with her second child.
The colonoscopy was put off until after her baby was born, and she left the appointment feeling a bit embarrassed for even suggesting something more serious.
A Shocking Discovery Just Weeks After Giving Birth
But six weeks after baby Charlie arrived, Vicki was back at her GP—this time with persistent UTIs.
During a scan of her bladder, something unexpected showed up: abnormalities on her liver. A CT scan and colonoscopy followed.
That’s when the devastating news came.
Vicki had bowel cancer. And it had already spread to her liver.
The cancer was advanced and labeled incurable.
Treatment, they told her, would be palliative—meant to ease symptoms, not cure the disease.
With her youngest son just six weeks old and her eldest, Alex, only four, Vicki’s world was turned upside down.
Turning the Odds with a Bold Treatment Plan
Even with the grim prognosis, Vicki wasn’t ready to give up.
Doctors at The Christie, a specialist cancer hospital in Manchester, started her on chemotherapy and a targeted drug called panitumumab in August 2021.
Remarkably, within just six months, the cancer markers in her blood had dropped to almost nothing.
But her liver was still filled with tumours—too many to remove surgically.
That’s when her doctors mentioned a glimmer of hope: a brand-new liver transplant technique being trialled in Norway.
Becoming One of the First to Receive a Life-Saving Liver Transplant
The procedure, which involved a full liver transplant for patients whose bowel cancer had spread extensively to the liver, was still in the early stages of being adopted in the UK.
To be eligible, patients needed to be stable for two years and have no active cancer in the bowel.
Vicki stayed on chemo, holding out hope. Finally, in the summer of 2024, the treatment was approved by the NHS.
She became just the second patient in the UK to receive it, thanks to a skilled team at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust.
Today, nearly a year later, she’s cancer-free.
Living With Gratitude and Looking Ahead
“I’m not totally back to normal yet,” Vicki admitted, “but I’m feeling so much better.
For a long time, I was just living for the next scan. Now I’m planning holidays with my family.”
She now takes lifelong medication to prevent her body from rejecting the liver and still has scans every three months, but the transformation in her life has been monumental.
Why Vicki’s Story Matters to Other Young Patients
Vicki hopes her experience opens eyes to the increasing number of younger adults being diagnosed with bowel cancer—rates have surged by 52% in the 25-49 age group since the early ’90s. Often, it’s caught late, just like hers.
She believes her age and lack of “typical” symptoms led doctors to overlook the cancer.
Her tumour didn’t cause the usual constipation or pencil-thin stools because it grew inward, thickening the colon wall instead of narrowing it from the outside.
“I wish I had pushed harder earlier,” she said. “You have to be your own advocate.
Ask questions. Do your own research.
If something doesn’t feel right, don’t just settle for the first answer.”
Finding Love, Strength, and a Future After Cancer
Now back at home with her husband Rob and their two little boys, Vicki is soaking in the moments she once feared she wouldn’t have.
A summer holiday abroad is in the works, and for the first time in years, she can think beyond the next scan.
In a world where the word “cure” is used cautiously, Vicki’s story is one of rare hope.
She beat the odds—and she wants other young people to know it’s okay to speak up, even when others don’t take you seriously.