My name is Max and I’m 27 years old.

Since being diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis it’s been an ongoing battle to deal with day-to-day life. The constant stints in hospital, colonoscopies, blood tests, enemas, injections, infusions, and tablets are a massive strain. 

The search for new treatments is something that is very close to my heart as both myself and my grandma have suffered with Crohns and Colitis. I have tried multiple treatments that my body always seems to grow anti-bodies against. The potential end result could be major surgery with a colostomy bag (some people have had this and it has changed their lives). The research happening now could provide myself or many others with a potential life changing treatment.

I’ve pushed loved ones away and lost ‘friends’ over the disease by not speaking about it. My family have had to watch me breakdown and put up with the side effects of medications just as much as I have. Without my family, girlfriend and close friends I don’t know what I would have done.

The most important thing I’ve learnt is that the best way for me to deal with this disease is to talk and be completely honest about it. This is something I have only recently started to do having had the condition over 15 years.

I’ve had the worst days of my life with Colitis, not having enough energy to even get out of bed.

There are still somethings that get the better of me with Colitis and it restricts my life massively, but I am determined to live a happy, fun-filled life."

To raise money for Crohns & Colitis I will be doing a static bike ride the distance from my home address to the Eiffel tower (A total of 630km) I will be completing this over a Friday, Saturday and Sunday. This will be both physically and mentally tough however I believe it’s such a worthy cause. The ultimate goal of a large proportion of the medical research they fund is to prevent or find a cure for IBD.

Max and Crohn's and Colitis UK - fighting Inflammatory Bowel Disease together. 😄💜💪

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