Pepperell police chief spreads message on early detection for colon cancer

PEPPERELL, Mass. — Pepperell Police Chief David Scott shows up to the office nearly every day.

“Work has been a sense of normalcy for me. I try to come in and have been coming in every day, except chemotherapy Wednesdays, where I can dial in from Dana-Farber” he said.

Scott was diagnosed with Stage 4 colon cancer in early March. It has spread to his liver and lungs. He says even though he was experiencing some strange stomach pains he was floored when he got the news.

“You knew immediately it was life changing. You’re wondering how long you have to live and what this means to your family and what this means for my future even, too,” Scott said.

According to Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, colorectal cancer is on the rise among Americans and is on track to nearly double in people under age 50 in the next 10 years and increase by 90 percent among those 20- to- 34 years old.

“It’s a new phenomenon we’ve seen. It’s really an epidemic of significant proportions in the incidents of colorectal cancer of young patients. We always thought of it as a disease of older patients,” said Dr. Marios Giannakis at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

Chief Scott’s grandfather died of colon cancer in his 60s, but the chief had always been told he should wait until he was 50 to be tested. He was diagnosed at 49. Scott decided to go public with his fight against cancer after his oncologist told him there was an epidemic of younger people getting diagnosed with colon cancer.

“It was such a shock to me that I had cancer and if I knew if I had been tested earlier it could have been much easier to treat,” he said.

After Scott’s diagnosis, his fellow police chiefs and community rallied behind him. So far, Scott has raised more than $40,000 and is the No. 1 fundraiser for the Boston Marathon Jimmy Fund Walk.

One of his officers also launched Team 14 to raise money for Scott’s fight against colon cancer. All proceeds go towards his Jimmy Fund Walk. Scott has received a tremendous amount of support, including from singer James Taylor.

“Fourteen is my badge number and also, when I was in the hospital when I first got diagnosed, I Googled Stage 4 colon cancer survival. The result I got back was that I had a 14 percent chance to live five years or more,” he said.

Chief Scott said he wants to spread the message about the importance of early detection. The CDC now recommends screening for colon cancer start at age 45, instead of the traditional 50.

If you’d like to get involved you can sign up for the Jimmy Fund Walk Your Way. It’s Oct. 3rd and you have until the day of the race to sign up. The event is virtual once again, so you can walk wherever, whenever and for however long you want.

Funds raised support both research and care at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

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