Gareth Collett was diagnosed with High Risk, high grade, NMIBC in November 2023, at the age of 56. He had a short spell of blood in the urine 3 times, and just at the end of the flow.

Gareth was the Head of the Bomb Disposal profession in the British Army for just over 33 years before retirement, and he is committed to speaking about his bladder cancer, to raising awareness of the symptoms and encouraging others to get their symptoms checked.  He has a particular concern about the incidence of bladder cancer within his former profession.

Watch his patient story film here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1b5cK2SEu34

Gareth Collett is a retired British Army Brigadier General and Diplomat, who specialised in counter-terrorist bomb disposal.  He joined the British Army in 1986.  He retired from military service as the Ministry of Defence’s Senior Explosive Ordnance Engineer and Head of the Bomb Disposal profession in 2018, having conducted bomb disposal duties across Great Britain, Northern Ireland, the Balkans, Iraq, the Middle/Far East and East Africa.  He was appointed CBE in 2013 as the head of the UK’s bomb disposal profession and principal proponent for the safeguarding of multinational EOD operations worldwide. He holds a Doctorate in Defence and Security. He is a fluent Arab speaker having conducted numerous diplomatic roles in the Middle East, a Chartered Engineer with the Engineering Council, and Fellow of the Institute of Explosive Engineers.   In 2019, Gareth took up the position of Chief Technical Advisor to UNDP (United Nations Development Programme) in Yemen, providing advice and guidance to the Humanitarian Coordinator, local security forces and civil communities on the threat posed by explosive hazards.