My son Joe has Crohn's Disease. He was diagnosed at aged 13 and to say he has been through hell with his health is an understatement.
Pam
To watch someone who you worship have major health issues is a horrible thing for any parent. Most people don't have a clue how debilitating Crohn's is, which is why I climbed Ben Nevis.
Joe was 12 when his symptoms started, and it all started very quickly while we were on holiday. He started going to the toilet a lot and he was freezing cold. It was like he was coming down with something and on the plane home he looked grey. I called the doctor once we were back home.
She said it sounded like a bug, but as it had been going on for so long he should take some antibiotics.
Joe took antibiotics and saw a slight improvement, however once he was off them it was worse than it had been. This happened in December, and he didn’t really go to school for the rest of the year.
In the January, Joe carried on feeling awful so had lots of tests done including a calprotectin test. The results came back on his 13th birthday, and they were 10 times the normal limit. After more tests over the coming months Joe was diagnosed with Crohn’s in the April.
By this time, he was 15/16lbs lighter and hadn’t done a full week at school since December. Joe was put on steroids and then went back and forth trying different drugs, but 2 years later he started on anti-TNF drugs.
At the moment Joe is OK. He injects Vedolizumab once a fortnight. No week is great, but at the moment, no week is hideous!
I support Crohn’s & Colitis UK with my challenges because when Joe first started getting ill I phoned the helpline many times. They would go over all the drugs with me and chatting to someone really helped. Then when COVID-19 hit, I used the website to check all the new information being released.
I decided to climb Ben Nevis as I’ve done a couple of half marathons for the charity already, but I wanted to do something bigger this time to try and get more money.
I’m half Scottish and Ben Nevis is huge so I thought this would get some attention!
I started by asking my closest friends to join me and they all said yes. Then I asked people from my industry. If I am honest they had all had a drink, so it was very easy to persuade them! Some of them did it for me, and some did it for the experience.
The next thing was to get sponsorship. I was asking people almost weekly for 9 months. I did videos of me running, photos, and YouTube videos. I also added my JustGiving link to emails and told everyone I met. It was hard if I am honest, but I knew I had to do it to get the donations.
On the day of the climb, it was hard because the rain didn’t stop. It was blowing a gale and there was sleet and snow. You name it, we had it. But we did it and I had a blast.
Are you inspired?
Pam and her team have managed to raise over £20,000 from this challenge!
If you’d like to find out more about how to fundraise through your business email partnerships@crohnsandcolitis.org.uk
