A unique, eye-catching exhibit is making an important health conversation impossible to ignore.
The Jumbo Colon, a 20-foot-long inflatable model, will be on display at the qplex in Quispamsis on Thursday from 2:00 pm to 7:00 pm.
It’s offering visitors an interactive experience designed to raise awareness about colorectal cancer prevention and screening.
The exhibit is part of a national outreach initiative by the Colorectal Cancer Resource and Action Network (CCRAN).
Frank Pitman, a colorectal cancer survivor and CCRAN outreach coordinator, travels the country using the Jumbo Colon to educate communities about the disease, emphasizing the importance of early detection and screening.
Pitman’s dedication to colorectal cancer awareness is personal. He was diagnosed with the disease in 2007, but he caught it early enough to receive successful treatment.
However, his younger sister was not as fortunate—she was diagnosed at age 44, when little awareness existed about colorectal cancer in younger adults.
“My youngest sister actually died of colorectal cancer when she was 44 years old,” Pitman said.
He stresses the need for early screening, especially as cases among Canadians under 50 continue to rise.
Pitman also advocates for lowering the screening age to 45 in Canada, to catch more cases early before it’s too late.
Currently, Canadian screening programs target people aged 50 to 74, but younger adults experiencing symptoms may go undiagnosed.
“There’s an alarming rise in colorectal cancer in younger people under 50. Unfortunately, they’re not covered by the screening program,” he said.
“If they do have a family history… they should go even younger, as soon as symptoms appear, and speak to their doctor.”
Breaking the silence around symptoms
Despite colorectal cancer being highly preventable, Pitman says many people avoid getting screened because they feel embarrassed talking about symptoms such as blood in their stool or abdominal pain.
“You have to talk about it. You have to be forward with your family practitioners. Just please get over that embarrassment because it can kill you,” he said.
Pitman explained that colorectal cancer caught at an early stage has the potential for a survival rate of over 90 per cent, but once it spreads, treatment becomes much more difficult.
Pitman emphasizes that routine screening and self-advocacy are critical in saving lives.
One of Pitman’s most powerful tools in engaging the public is the Jumbo Colon, a large inflatable exhibit designed to draw attention and spark conversations about colorectal cancer.
“It’s an eye-catching display,” he explained.
“If you go out with just an information table, no one will come by. But when you bring out this Jumbo Colon, which is fairly large—you see a lot of pathologies in the colon—it starts as a conversation starter that might not happen otherwise.”
Inside the exhibit, visitors can walk through a life-sized model of the colon, observing polyps, Crohn’s disease, diverticulitis, hemorrhoids, and the various stages of colorectal cancer.
Screens provide additional information, while Pitman and other experts are available to answer questions.
Hospital staff and healthcare professionals have strongly supported the Jumbo Colon, recognizing its value in educating the public and encouraging preventive care.
While colorectal cancer research has made significant progress in recent years, Pitman said only a small percentage of patients benefit from the most advanced treatments.
“We actually have a subset of certain people with a certain genetic makeup who can actually be cured of colorectal cancer,” Pitman said.
“But that’s only 5 per cent. So there’s still the other 95 per cent we have to keep on trying to find cures for.”
New treatments, such as genetic testing, personalized medicine, and immunotherapy, offer hope, but Pitman stresses that early detection remains the most effective way to prevent deaths
