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I was diagnosed in 2009 with Crohn's disease of the terminal ileum,

for the first couple of years 2009 - 2011 I was Hospitalised twice when I had a flare up and treated with Steroid tablets and also a full liquid diet.

2012 - 2015 I was symptom free of Crohn's and continued to enjoy and get on with my life whilst this was the case.

2015 I took a turn for the worst I lost over 4 stone and was down to just under 8 stone in weight, I was unable to keep any food I eat down, they tried me on all different treatments and I did not respond to any treatment, so I then begun numerous test to which they found I had Fistulas ( Small channels off leaks on your bowel attaching to other organs in your body) and told me I would need surgery sooner rather than later, I was then told on the Monday that the following Tuesday I was going to be admitted into hospital for 10 days to be giving a full liquid diet injected into my vein as I was not currently well enough to fight the recovery after the operation during the 10 days I gained just over 5 pounds which they said was still not ideal but they were going to go ahead with it anyway, I then had the operation 7 hours long and i woke up with a colostomy bag and was told It was possibly one of the worst cases the surgeon had seen he says if I would of waited a couple of weeks more it may have been fatal the consequences 48 hours after the operation things started to take a turn for the worst I woke up 6 am to a bed full of blood I nearly collapsed in shock the surgeon was sent for and I had my vital signs checked it had came clear that there was a slight bleed and I had lost a considerable amount of blood and would need a blood transfusion, I then had an increased resting  heart rate of over 140 beats per minute  and was monitored on an ECG. the next day was tough I could not get out of bed I felt that weak.

My bloods were tested everyday and I was then told I had developed a post op infection if things could not get any worse they just have.

then 2 weeks later things started to get better and I started to get my strength back. I was in hospital for just over 4 weeks recovering and of course getting used to my Colostomy bag.

3 months after this I decided to climb mount Snowden I done this with two fellow refs it was tough but felt great afterwards

after 6 months and numerous checkups  I was told that the bowel was looking very good and the operation was successful and I would soon be able to have a reversal and have full function of my bowel again.

I am now 100% back to doing everything including my Refereeing which I was out for just on 8 months.

to date I have being in remission and look back on the first 72hours of the operation which at one point I thought was the last 72 hours.

Thanks

our aim is to unite together to raise funds needed to complete the vital work on the new MAP test at Kings College London, Ready for use in the human trial of the Crohn's MAP Vaccine. Having achieved our first milestone of £70,000 in Nov 2014 we have set our sights on £120,00 by 31st May 2016