Paddy Gower went in for a routine check, but got life-changing news. Photo / NZ Woman's Weekly
When Paddy Gower agreed to have a colonoscopy on television to raise awareness about bowel cancer, it felt like just another day at work.
But just minutes into the procedure, the doctor paused, then delivered the news that would change everything – he had found a growth. Gower was stunned.
“I had not mentally prepared for that,” the Paddy Gower Has Issues host admits. “But if you think about it, there was a likelihood that they might find something. I’m 48 years old. Just because I was doing it for a TV show didn’t make what’s happening inside my body any different.”
During the 30-minute procedure, professor Frank Frizelle – one of New Zealand’s leading colorectal surgeons – discovered a second small polyp and Gower’s thoughts immediately spiralled to the worst-case scenario.
After losing his beloved mum Joan to lung cancer 18 years ago, Gower worried he was about to face the same fate.
“My mind turned to how Mum had died and there’s cancer in my family,” he says. “My deepest personal fear is dying of the disease after watching it happen to my mother.”
Once out of recovery, Frizelle explained that one of the polyps was pre-cancerous and would have developed into cancer within the next decade.
While Gower was relieved it had been removed, he’s still grappling with the reality that had it not been for the show, he may never have discovered the growth until it was too late.
“In that time, I would still be under the screening age, so there would be no reason for me to get a colonoscopy,” Gower, who will now need check-ups every three years to monitor for new growths, said.
“I know from all my research this is what happens to people my age. It grows inside you and you don’t know it’s there until finally there’s some emergency symptom. By then, you have a large cancer inside your bowel and it’s too late.
“I’ve had this amazing moment – I’ve had a lot of these in my life – I call them ‘Paddy Luck’, a term I have coined. I don’t say this lightly, it probably saved my life.”
While Frizelle agreed to do the procedure in his own time, so no patients missed out on appointments, Gower is aware how fortunate he was to receive care when thousands of others are still waiting.
“The thing that really guts me is there are 20,000 people on the waiting list for colonoscopies in New Zealand,” he explains. “That’s 20,000 people who have had some form of symptom or recommendation from their doctor to get this.”
Another major hurdle in bowel cancer detection is getting eligible people actually to book their free screening.
“I’m living proof of how important colonoscopies are,” he says. “They save lives. A lot of people are scared and don’t want to do it because of the discomfort involved. But the comfort that it gives you, knowing that you’ve had your bowels checked, far outweighs it.”
Gower’s journalism has long been driven by a desire to improve cancer care in New Zealand in honour of his mum. But he was especially motivated to tackle bowel cancer on Paddy Gower Has Issues after the death of primary school teacher and awareness advocate Aimee-Rose Yates in July.
Gower met Yates during the 2023 Newshub leaders’ debate, where she challenged both Christopher Luxon and Chris Hipkins to lower the age for screening.
“Both leaders made a promise to bring the bowel cancer screening age down to 45 to match Australia,” he recalls. “I have a real issue with this promise to Aimee-Rose not being kept.”
Since taking office, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Health Minister Simeon Brown have lowered the free screening age from 60 to 58, a change that came into effect this month in Auckland, Northland and the South Island.
They’ve also introduced an at-home test using a stool sample to detect traces of blood, available to people of all ages and pledged to deliver 7100 additional colonoscopies over the next year.
But the Government has yet to commit to a timeline for matching Australia’s screening age.
While Gower agrees progress has been made, he, along with medical experts, insists it’s not enough. And he won’t stop pushing until this Government, or the next, stays true to its word.
“It’s a harsh reality this disease is killing New Zealanders younger and younger,” he said. “It’s something that means a lot to me. It’s good to see some movement from the Government. It makes it worthwhile, but more needs to be done.”
All episodes of Paddy Gower Has Issues are streaming on ThreeNow.