A British man wrote a brutally honest Facebook rant about living with Crohn’s disease after growing tired of people questioning his use of facilities for the disabled.
Late last month, Stephen “Ste” Walker, 24, took to Facebook and posted a powerful message about what life is like suffering from Crohn’s after he was asked why he’s “conning the system.”
Walker was diagnosed with severe Crohn’s 2012, a chronic disease that causes inflammation of the bowels and colon.
According to Crohn’s and Colitis Canada, one in every 150 Canadians is living with Crohn’s or colitis, a rate that ranks highest in the world.
In the Facebook rant, Walker explains he has a Hickman line to help feed him and another tube down his nose to help drain his stomach. He has scars from three “major life saving surgeries” and uses colostomy bag to collect his waste.
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Walker continues to list all the health problems he has suffered as a result of having Crohn’s.
“It’s not just these physical conditions I have to deal with and fight every day, there is also a mental battle raging inside me all the time,” Walker wrote. “Not been able to eat a meal in 2 years, or only been at home for 4 weeks in the last 18 months, been away from my family and friends, seeing what my illness does to them has a massive effect on my mental state of mind.”
Walker explained that people are too quick to judge him based on his physical appearance, which he describes as “normal.”
Along with his rant, Walker posted photos of himself, including one with all of his medical equipment attached to him.
Walker explained to the Today show that he posted the rant to help raise awareness of Crohn’s disease.
“Invisible illnesses need more awareness… everyone knows about cancer, but not every knows about Crohn’s,” he told Today. “I think the world needed to see it and the world needed to be taught, that I am a person, I have feelings.”
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