"How can it happen to someone that healthy?": Super-fit dad with 'best body in Swinton' dies aged 42 after heartbreaking cancer battle

A super-fit dad has died aged 42 after a heartbreaking battle with bowel cancer.

Adam Pope, who regularly visited the gym, was given the devastating diagnosis two years ago after passing blood.

The "amazing" fitness fanatic, who friends joked had the "best body in Swinton", developed a tumour and sepsis.

He died on February 12.

Adam's wife Sarah told the Manchester Evening News: "He was passing blood, we thought it was just haemorrhoids but we got it checked out anyway.

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"His GP decided that he should get a biopsy. Before he knew it, he was sat in a waiting room at the Salford Royal.

"The news was such a shock."

Adam, who treated his wife and daughter like a "queen and princess", had a colostomy bag fitted and went through 15 to 18 rounds of chemotherapy.

But he kept active for as long as he possibly could.

Sarah said he'd have chemo on the Friday, his pump taken off on the Sunday, and that by the Wednesday he's be 'back in the gym'.

Childhood friend Craig Howell said: "How can it happen to someone that fit?

"He was a true gentleman and known for having the best body in Swinton."

Despite being sick, Adam took part in a running challenge last year, to raise money in memory of his friend's daughter.

It involved running four miles, every four hours, for 48 hours - and he took part in the last leg.

Now, his friends are taking on the same challenge in his memory, after he passed away on February 12.

"We're going to do it for him and his family instead," Paul Jamieson said, who set up Layla's Rainbow four years ago, after the death of his daughter.

"He's a close friend and he's well known in the area and he's a good