Glenn Horrex, from Whanganui had no hesitation in doing the  bowel screening test when it arrived in the mail. It was December and he was  preparing for his annual gig as Santa at a local shopping mall.

“I thought the test kit was pretty cool. I was fine, had no symptoms, so I did the test, sent it off and thought that was that.”

Glenn was on the golf course when he got a call from his doctor to say the test was positive and he’d need to have a colonoscopy. Whilst he was a little anxious, his main concern was that his hospital appointment would get in the way of his Santa commitments. “I couldn’t bear to disappoint the kids,” he said.

When the team at Whanganui Hospital heard who the VIP patient was, they went the extra mile to fast-track Glenn’s colonoscopy to ensure he could take up residence in his grotto at Trafalgar Square Shopping Mall. The examination revealed Glenn had some polyps, one that was quite advanced and could have become cancerous in time. The growths were removed during the colonoscopy and Glenn is now on a three-yearly surveillance programme. As a man in the gift business, Glenn reckons, the bowel screening programme delivered the best gift of all. “The screening programme saves lives. It is as simple as that.”