Jane Swarbrigg, formerly the public face of Inglot make-up in Ireland and a successful entrepreneur, was diagnosed with stage four bowel cancer in April at the age of 43. The diagnosis came after persistent fatigue following pregnancy prompted medical testing, which revealed tumours in her colon, spots on her lungs, and a large liver tumour. Without treatment, she was given a prognosis of three to six months. Her case highlights a growing and concerning trend of bowel cancer diagnoses in younger people.

In the mid-1990s, an average of 145 people under 50 were diagnosed with bowel cancer annually in Ireland, rising to 272 by 2022—nearly double the previous rate. The disease rate among those under 50 has increased by 34%, with a particularly sharp rise of 74% among those aged 20 to 34, meaning one in ten bowel cancer diagnoses in Ireland now occurs in someone under 50. Swarbrigg has completed eight rounds of chemotherapy at St James's Hospital in Dublin with good response, and is travelling to New York for a specialised hepatic artery infusion pump procedure that delivers chemotherapy directly to the liver, with her primary motivation being to ensure her presence in the lives of her two young children.