Widow urges men to get tested for prostate cancer

A woman whose husband died from prostate cancer despite initially showing no obvious symptoms has urged men to get tested.

Peter Bowler, from Stone, Staffordshire, was diagnosed in early 2018 after his daughter noticed he seemed "a bit miserable" while they were out shopping.

He died in 2025, aged 66, but during the seven years he was being treated, he helped to set up free screening events for men aged over 40.

The next event, organised by Stoke-on-Trent Lions Club and Burslem Rotary, will take place later in September and his widow Karen Bowler has urged people to take advantage.

"Pete never had any symptoms of anything, he hadn't felt poorly," she told BBC Radio Stoke.

"We had been out with the children to do just a general shop. My daughter just made a comment that she thought her dad was a bit miserable."

Bowler said her daughter booked him an appointment, where he had a blood test and was found to have a prostate-specific antigen reading of 247 – typically, it should be less than three.

"We cried a lot," Bowler said. "We didn't understand really what was going on."

The family later found out his prostate cancer was stage four, meaning it had spread to his lymph nodes.

Bowler said her husband was the kind of person who would just carry on despite not feeling 100% and probably suspecting there was an underlying condition.

"He was one of those people who would put everybody else first, no matter what," she said. "I think he just got on with it until he got diagnosed and then the situation changed.

"Anytime anybody asked him how he was, his reply was always 'I'm absolutely fine'. I knew he wasn't and I knew he worried about what was going on."

She urged men to "trouble the doctor" or make sure they got tested if they had any symptoms, adding that organising the free screening events had helped her "immensely".

The next event offers prostate screening for up to 500 men who are more than 40 years old and will be at the Bet365 Stadium on 24 September.

Carole Godden, of Stoke-on-Trent Lions, said it was a "simple blood test" and did not involve any kind of invasive procedure.

She said the events were "so important", adding: "I think men are a bit reticent generally at coming forward for any kind of treatment or investigation.

"It is such a simple test and I just pray that Pete could've had the opportunity to have a test because it was too late for him."

Anyone who wishes to book a place at the screening event can find more information on the Stoke-on-Trent Lions Club website.

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