A young woman who was diagnosed with the same cancer which killed actor James Van Der Beek has warned others about its symptoms.

Paige Seifert, 25, spoke of her experience in the wake of the death of Van Der Beek, 48, who had battled colorectal cancer for around two-and-a-half years. Tributes have poured in for the Dawson's Creek star, including from close friend Alfonso Ribeiro, who was pictured hugging his pal in his final, poignant moments.

It has struck a cord with Paige, an engineer from Denver, Colorado, who overcame her fight and was recently declared cancer-free. She did, though, first experience blood in her stool, which she had dismissed as symptoms as haemorrhoids.

She went to her doctor twice — who also diagnosed her with haemorrhoids — before she was sent to a GI — a gastroenterologist — in January 2025 just to be safe. A colonoscopy revealed a large mass on Paige's colon and she was told she had stage-three colon cancer after being referred to an oncologist.

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Paige then underwent 12 rounds of chemotherapy and an operation to remove the tumour and a foot of the colon. The engineer said: "My heart dropped when they told me I had cancer. It was the worst-case scenario. It was hard for my parents; they live on the other side of the country, it was stressful for them, but they travelled out as much as they could."

Van Der Beek, best known for his role in Dawson's Creek, was diagnosed with cancer in August 2023, one year before Paige's diagnosis. Reacting to the actor's passing, Paige considers herself lucky — but feels as though her active lifestyle, including her passion for sports, helped her fight.

Paige started 12 rounds of chemotherapy in February 2025. Halfway through chemotherapy, treatment was paused so Paige could have the tumour removed in July 2025.

"In the summer, the doctors removed the tumour and a foot of my colon. After the operation, I started treatment again and completed it two weeks ago. A week after treatment stopped, I had a clear scan. The tumour is gone, they also removed 37 lymph nodes and tested them. My cancer has gone, and the recurrence markers are negative," Paige added.

Paige said she felt a "sense of relief" when the results came back clear. She said that her love of sports - including skiing and mountain climbing - helped her get through her diagnosis and treatment.

Paige said: "It is a sense of relief, but only for a moment. Getting cancer at 24 feels like I am bound to get cancer again. I have had some complications since my clear scan, even if the cancer has gone, there is still sickness I have to deal with.

"I genuinely believe that my active lifestyle helped me get through the last year. If I were having a down day, I would go and play sports — I don't know where I would be without it."