Crohns' disease is one of the most underfunded and misunderstood illnesses around. There are limited treatments and in recent years there have only been a few new drugs and once these three to four preventative maintenance drugs are exhausted there is no where else to go but surgery. People often don't like to talk about illnesses that involve the bowel, that involve anything 'gross', and this extends to funding

My boyfriend has had Crohn's disease since he was eight years old (he is now 33), he has spent literally years in hospital, he has had multiple major life saving surgeries, is now fed intravenously for life through central line as he has nearly no bowel left, has a stoma for life, and needs large amounts of fentanyl to deal with the constant pain, has a permanent drain, is constantly sick and is unable to work as a result. He has further large surgeries upcoming, and is facing, in the future, multiple organ failure. This is the reality, or at least a truncated and digestible reality, of serious Crohns disease (and that is not to minimise the impact of any one's experience with this illness as even the lightest touch of Crohns is still a lifetime sentence).

I mention all of this because it shows just how serious Crohns can be, how it can effect children drastically irrevocably changing their lives. Imagine a child facing the reality of the fact that they may die: repeatedly. This is the biggest problem with Crohns Disease; if, as in my boyfriend's case, the illness doesn't respond to the meager medication, their life is constantly in danger, their lifespan becomes shorter, and their life is massively compromised.

That is why I want to undertake this walk, to raise as much money as possible to help fund one of the most poorly funded illnesses around. The support groups, the research, and more need money desperately.

I hope you can see fit to help funding this walk to help families, children, and adults whose lives are effected by this illness as it is sore needed.