Chadwick Boseman's 'sudden' colon cancer symptoms: How to spot if something might be wrong
Chadwick Boseman's widow previously revealed that her husband experienced a 'sudden' health decline prior to his colon cancer diagnosis.
The Black Panther star was diagnosed with stage three colon cancer in 2016, which later progressed to stage four around 2020.
During this period, he underwent several surgeries and chemotherapy while still working as an actor, after deciding to keep his diagnosis private from the public.
This includes his portrayal of T'Challa in 2016's Black Panther, as well as subsequent appearances in Captain America: Civil War and Avengers: Endgame.
Advert
In fact, he kept his health concerns so private that his wife Simone Ledward Boseman wasn't aware that her husband had begun experiencing symptoms until after he had visited a doctor on two occasions.
In a poignant new interview, Simone - a singer and musician who performs under the stage name 'sahn' - shared further details of the actor's battle with the deadly disease, which he chose to keep private.
"It all seemed to come about very suddenly," she told Today. "It was a matter of weeks that he started not feeling well."
Commenting that colon cancer is 'really tricky that way', Simone added: "Because he was so young, he wasn’t even at the point where he would consider having a colonoscopy."
Colon cancer, or bowel cancer, is one of the most common types of cancer in the UK and can be found anywhere in the large bowel, which includes the colon and rectum.
According to the World Cancer Research Fund, colon cancer is the world's third most common cancer.
The NHS explains that symptoms of this include changes in your pooing habits, blood in your poo (which may look red or black), bleeding from your bottom and often feeling like you need to poo even if you've just been to the toilet.
Other red flags to be wary of include tummy pain, a lump in your abdomen, bloating losing weight without trying and feeling very tired for no reason.
Simone said that despite the sinister nature of Chadwick's diagnosis, they were both 'very confident' that he would 'make it through'.
"To us, it was going be a challenging moment, but something that he would come out on the other side of and be fine," she continued.
"And they would do a surgery, and he would do some chemo afterward, and he would be okay. And there wasn’t much talk at all of the possibility of him not being okay on the other side of that.
"There are a lot of moments where I look back on that time and wish that we had been able to find a way to talk about that."
For a fleeting moment, the couple believed things really might be alright, as Simone said that her late husband was briefly in remission in 2018, dubbing it a 'beautiful year'.
Tearing up, she added: "It’s harder to talk about the good times than it is the bad."
Tragically, Chadwick was later informed that his cancer had returned at the end of 2018 and this time, it had progressed to stage four.
Explaining why he kept his health woes a secret and why he continued to work, Simone said: "When so many eyes are on you, I think you want to keep things generally more private.
"Chad was not a person that would have wanted to be treated any differently because people knew that he was sick. The work is what was keeping him moving, so he didn’t want the work to suffer just because he was sick.
"He didn’t want to be handled with kid gloves because people thought he wasn’t going to be able to do his job and slide underneath falling cabinets and run across fields."
Admirably, Chadwick still shot films such as Black Panther, 21 Bridges, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, Marshall, and Da 5 Bloods during this taxing period of his life.
He also made time to pop the question to Simone, who he first began dating in 2018, before they got married in an intimate ceremony in 2020.
Discussing her grief, Simone added: "The edges get less sharp, I think, is the best way to put it. There are still edges and there are still a lot of painful moments.
"But I think it becomes easier to find the love in those moments, as well. You become more accustomed to carrying the weight of grief. But it doesn’t go away."
She wants people to remember her husband for the 'way that he lived', adding: "The fact that he wouldn’t let cancer get in the way of what he was here to do, let that be the lesson."
Will there be a new Black Panther?
Last month, it was confirmed that Ryan Coogler would be returning to the MCU to make Black Panther 3, which included the casting of David Jonsson as T'Challa's son, after the decision was made to not recast Boseman's role.
The film is currently scheduled to be released on 15 December 2028.
Topics: Bowel cancer, Cancer, Health, Celebrity, Chadwick Boseman
Olivia Burke