A CUMBRIAN teenager with untreatable bowel cancer has written to every GP in the county, hoping to raise awareness of the illness.

Megan Pryde, 19, wants to warn other young people that bowel cancer is not just a disease that affects older generations.

Diagnosed in February 2016, Megan, from Carlisle, said that finding out she had cancer was a 'huge shock'.

"When I was first told I had cancer, I wrote a ‘bucket list’ of everything I wanted to do, whilst I was still feeling well enough," she said. "It wasn’t a big list. I wanted to try to help raise awareness of bowel cancer amongst other young people and to raise money for Teenager Cancer Trust."

Megan’s letter writing campaign will focus on two tools that will help GPs spot the signs of cancer in young people, a bowel cancer toolkit and a GP e-learning module.

Deborah Alsina MBE, chief executive of Bowel Cancer UK said: “We know that 2,500 people under 50 are diagnosed with bowel cancer every year in the UK, including 98 people under the age of 20 - a 45 per cent rise in numbers since 2004. Far too many are being diagnosed late when the disease is harder or even impossible to treat. We must stop this and ensure that bowel cancer is ruled out much more quickly."

As part of Megan’s awareness campaign she is calling on schools in the Kendal area to book their education talk for the next academic year.

To book a talk with a Teenage Cancer Trust, please visit: https://www.teenagecancertrust.org/about-us/what-we-do/cancer-awareness/book-education-presentation