'Fit and healthy mum' diagnosed with bowel cancer aged 39 shares three warning signs you should never ignore

The C word is terrifying to us all, there's no doubt about that, but one fitness fanatic is hoping to inspire the world to listen our bodies.

Meet Australia's Danni Duncan, a health coach with over 150,000 followers on Instagram; less than a month ago she revealed that she'd once been diagnosed with Stage 2 bowel cancer.

Still in her 30's, the news hit her like a train, but she's now turning the whole experience into something positive and wants anybody who'll listen to consider tiny changes in their physiology — it might just save your life.

"I got bowel cancer in my 30's, here are three symptoms you should never ignore," she captioned a clip of herself posing in the mirror.

But what were the cancerous identifiers she spotted before pursuing medical assistance?

Duncan went on to write: "Fatigue that isn't normal for YOU. My runs were slow, I couldn't finish sets at the gym. I couldn't get my heart rate down, I was dizzy, anxious.

"This wasn't your normal 'I need a nap' tired. I was 4 months postpartum with my 4th baby. I dismissed it as that initially. This was different. I was so anemic my doctor said I should've been bleeding out in front of her, yet I didn't even have my period back and was breastfeeding."

As for the fitness influencer's second symptoms, she'd been dealing with inexplicable bloating.

"I eat 90% whole foods, drink 3-4 litres of water a day, limit alcohol (especially when breastfeeding), my stress was low, people tried to help by saying to go easy on myself, I'd just had my 4th baby and was nearing 40. It wasn't sitting right with me," she shared.

Then came a 'gut instinct' as opposed to an official symptom.

"Your gut is your second brain. Listen to it," Duncan encouraged. "I just knew something was wrong. I knew my body and something didn't feel right.

"You MUST listen to that instinct and advocate for your health. YOU know your body better than anyone. I knew I looked after myself better than anyone I know. Loved it, nourished it, honoured it. Yet i could tell something was up."

The Australian pointed to the more obvious symptoms connected to bowel cancer too, including bloody stools and uncharacteristic constipation or diarrhoea.

She signed off with: "The best thing you can do is take care of yourself NOW. Be the fittest, healthiest version of you, so if the worst is to come tapping - like it did with me - you're in the best shape to fight it."

In the comment column Duncan's words were music to the ears of many, proving that everyone's personal story can be inspiring.

"Wow this is so interesting and inspiring. Thank you for sharing your story," read one message.

"Thank you, all your advocacy made me book in for colonoscopy," revealed a second fan. "My Dr removed two polyps really early stages, one came back as an aggressive one which would likely develop into bowel cancer in years to come. Thank you."