In June 2016 the Mollymook man took part in a bowel cancer screening program and found he had the disease in its early stages. 

Now, Mr Gilberd has become a walking, talking poster for the program and urged others to “get tested”.

“It was my wife's decision to do the screening,” he said. 

“I've had bowel scans before and they were all clear. It had been a few years and she said ‘we should do it’. 

“Mine came back that they wanted to have a look and that's when they found it.”

The 67-year-old was rushed to a series of appointments, followed by a colonoscopy and an operation to remove a section of his bowel. 

“They didn't want me to have radiation or chemotherapy, they put me straight into hospital and cut it out,” Mr Gilberd said.

“They got it all and they cut out a fair bit of my bowel; looked about a third of it gone.

“I have a colonoscopy every six months now and it has been all clear so far.” 

BowelCare is a not-for-profit Rotary community service designed to offer an affordable annual bowel screening program.

The program runs for eight weeks from April 1 to May 31.

Test kits are available through pharmacies or by contacting the BowelCare head office between 9am and 4pm, Monday to Thursday, on 02 4349 5555.