Zahida Allen, who starred on Geordie Shore, has spoken out about the importance of knowing the signs of bowel cancer after her father was repeatedly sent home with laxatives before receiving a terminal stage four diagnosis. She urges people not to be embarrassed to "talk about poo".
Repeated dismissals with laxatives
Allen's father, Anhar Miah, died from bowel cancer in February 2023 at the age of 62. From January 2021, he made numerous visits to his GP for stomach problems including diarrhoea, week-long constipation, and abdominal pain, but was consistently sent away with laxatives rather than being referred for further examination.
Even during an A&E visit in December 2021, following rapid weight loss, severe fatigue, deteriorating bowel symptoms and blood in his stool and vomit, he was discharged with merely a box of laxatives. After Allen's persistence, an X-ray and CT scan uncovered a bowel obstruction, and a biopsy confirmed incurable, inoperable stage four metastatic bowel cancer in February 2022.
Missed opportunities
Allen, now 32, believes that had her father's symptoms been treated with greater urgency and testing conducted earlier, more could have been done to extend or save his life. "If I didn't say something, if I didn't refuse to leave, still we wouldn't have known at that time that my dad had cancer, and it would have continued developing," she told PA Real Life.
She added: "When my dad got misdiagnosed those other three times, the cancer was very much present, and it was multiplying, and it was growing. If he was able to find it sooner, we would have been able to look at other treatment ideas or plans sooner. We didn't have the chance to look at anything. We were just told, 'Your dad is going to die'."
Deteriorating health and emergency surgery
Miah had suffered digestive problems for years, but by 2021 his condition had deteriorated significantly: profound tiredness, rapid weight loss, constipation lasting up to seven days, and blood in his stools. The NHS lists bowel cancer warning signs as changes in bowel movements, blood in stools, abdominal pain, bloating, and unexplained weight loss – all of which he experienced.
In December 2021, Allen found him vomiting blood and called an ambulance. After a night in A&E, he was sent home with laxatives again. She pushed for a second opinion, and a different doctor referred him for an X-ray and CT scan, which revealed a twisted and blocked bowel, requiring emergency surgery that night. A biopsy later confirmed terminal bowel cancer that had spread to his abdomen, kidney and stomach.
Treatment and legacy
Miah was offered chemotherapy, hoped to extend his life by three to five years, but he suffered serious infections, including grade three sepsis, and died in February 2023. Allen now supports her family in running his restaurant, the Bay Leaf in Cramlington, and champions awareness of bowel health, including a testing kit from Newfoundland Diagnostics. She has joined forces with the firm to introduce the "Know Your Sh!t" campaign, with beer mats and free tests available in London pubs.
