In Shawn’s corner: Stepping into the ring to end CRC

When Shawn Tuteja was 10 years old, he was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease, an incurable autoimmune condition that causes chronic gastrointestinal inflammation. For more than 20 years, his life has been a cycle of treatments and medications just to keep his own body from attacking itself.

Yet Shawn considers himself incredibly fortunate. He was diagnosed early and has always had access to great medical care. Over the years, he’s met many others living with Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) who have faced far tougher medical hurdles. 

“Their resilience is something I carry with me every single day,” he says.

This is the first time Shawn has broadly shared his Crohn’s journey. He’s sharing it now because the cause is urgent and he wants to use his platform to spread awareness.

Why Shawn is stepping into the ring

This November, Shawn is partnering with Haymakers for Hope to fight in a charity boxing match to raise money for the Colorectal Cancer Alliance. We’re the nation’s largest nonprofit dedicated to ending colorectal cancer (CRC), and we work on every front of this disease: funding research, supporting patients and families, raising awareness of screening, and building a community of people who refuse to accept the status quo.

Colorectal cancer is now the deadliest cancer in people under 50 and the second deadliest cancer overall. And because chronic IBD significantly increases the risk of developing colorectal cancer, it’s deeply personal for Shawn.

Despite this devastating reality, we continue to be let down by the slow pace of research, as momentum is delayed or dissolved by silence and underfunding. 

The courage to act

After months of physical training, Shawn hopes that his fight can help patients afford medical care for CRC, increase knowledge of and access to screening tools, and further medical research toward Project Cure CRC. At the Alliance, we’re powered by the courage to act on multiple fronts:

• 33 research projects funded. Real science, driven by donor dollars.
• KLEOS. We announced the country’s first adaptive clinical trial platform built exclusively for colorectal cancer. No one else is doing this.
• A stronger cancer care program. Patients living with the disease today get support through clinical navigation, and we’re finding better ways to prevent CRC in the first place.
• Five new clinical trials launching across the country in early 2027. This is how we’re taking on the slow, incremental pace of research head-on.

The work doesn’t end when the final bell rings

Our five new clinical trials launch in early 2027, and the funding decided right now determines whether they launch on time. Momentum built in 2026 either accelerates into 2027 or delays progress.

That’s why Giving Tuesday on December 1 and the final weeks of the year matter so much. This is the biggest giving window of the year, and every gift made before December 31 helps turn hope into action. For donor advised fund donors, you can also give directly to Colorectal Cancer Alliance from our website using DAFpay.

Start your own fundraiser

You don’t need boxing gloves to be a fighter. Start an End Colon Cancer Coast to Coast fundraiser before the end of the year and rally your own corner — friends, family, coworkers — behind the Colorectal Cancer Alliance, right alongside Shawn.

Help fund the trials, research, and patient support that will build a future free of this disease. It’s hope turned into action by courageous people who are refusing to wait — people like you and Shawn.

Start your End Colon Cancer Coast to Coast fundraiser today.