A 30-year-old Australian musician says he is entering the “final chapter” of his life after doctors gave him just months to live as he battles the same cancer that killed beloved actor James Van Der Beek.
Jordan Brunoli, the bassist for Brisbane indie rock band Bugs, was just 29 when he received an incurable stage four colorectal cancer diagnosis in June 2025 after months of abdominal pain.
“There was blood in my stool occasionally…lethargy and general tiredness,” he told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) in October 2025. “I was getting a lot of hectic stomach pain.”
Despite doctors being “dismissive” of his agonizing symptoms, telling him, “It’s a virus – Don’t worry, it’ll go away in a couple of weeks,” the Aussie pushed for more tests.
“I thought, ‘screw this, like I genuinely feel f***ed’, and I knew there was something wrong with me,” he told the outlet, adding that doctors said he “was being pushy.”
Devastating diagnosis
By the time doctors discovered he had colorectal cancer, the disease had “aggressively spread to his entire liver and lymph nodes.”
“That’s ridiculous, I’m too young,” he told ABC about learning of his diagnosis.
“I actually wasn’t going to tell anyone except for maybe a couple of close friends,” he admitted, explaining that bandmates Brock Weston and Connor Brooker encouraged him “to make it public.”
