He will trek the Goldfields Track from Fryerstown to Hepburn Springs in September in the annual Jodie Lee Foundation fundraiser - this time in memory of his wife Catherine Ross, a strong ambassador for the event and charity raising awareness on bowel cancer.

Catherine "Riney" Ross was health conscious and really fit when diagnosed with stage three bowel cancer, aged 28. Riney died in February, 32 years old.

Her fundraising efforts have tallied more than $250,000 towards finding a cure for Australia's second deadliest cancer.

The couple, from near Lorne, and family first took part in Jodie Lee Foundation Victoria Trek in 2017. They remain passionate supporters for education and, ultimately, a mission to find a cure.

"One of the huge issues is awareness," Mr Bell said. "You need to listen to your body, you need to know bowel cancer does not discriminate between age or sexes.

"One thing we often talked about was how cancer takes away control you have in your life but one thing we could do was channel our energy into supporting work for a cure, like the Jodie Lee Foundation...I want to carry on what Catherine started. I can't sit back and watch other people go through this again."

Mr Bell hope an early call for the challenging event would prompt people to start thinking about taking part and spreading the word.

One in 13 Australians are diagnosed with bowel cancer each year. Mr Bell said increasingly, this was affecting younger people, like Catherine.

"There is a huge mortality rate once the cancer has taken hold but conversely, if detected early it can be really successful to treat," Mr Bell said.

Catherine had been presenting with abdominal pain for a prolonged time, having had a history of an inflammatory bowel. Mr Bell said the process to diagnose her cancer was long and took plenty of persistence.

Other symptoms include: blood in bowel movements, unexplained weight loss and change in bowel habits.

Trekkers will walk part of the historic Goldfields Track in either a two-day 80-kilometre hike or one-day options, 25km or 10km routes.

Details: jodieleefoundation.org.au.

The Courier