Personal Stories

Alex suffered for three years before doctors finally diagnosed her at only 16

Amanda chronicles her life over the past 2 years with Ulcerative Colitis

29 year old Amanda has mild – moderate IBD, but the complications from years of having the disease unchecked have… complicated it.

A personal story from Amy on how her IBD inspired her career choice

19 year old Bryttani takes us through her journey living with Crohns

NZ born Chris speaks about his journey against the odds to complete two half-marathons and trekk to the Base Camp of Everest.

Hugh writes about Crohn’s for an autobiographical assignment at school

Jill Corbett, who co-organised the fundraiser Newcastle Bowel of the Ball in June 2012, shares her story about colitis, colon removal, and moving on

Joe talks about how he uses mental discipline to conquer Crohn’s

14 year old Josie describes her battle with Crohn’s- “Enjoy Today’, because you don’t know what tomorrow will bring’.

THE final year of study is not something most school-leavers would elect to do twice.  Kieran was forced to spread his Victorian Certificate of Education over two years due to illness

19 year old Kineta talks about her struggle with Crohn’s disease and finding out about the important things in life along the way.

If Crohn’s disease was a textbook, then Lachan’s photo would be on the front cover. His is a classic example of Crohn’s disease in childhood or adolescence 

Lauren shares her story about spreading the word on IBD

Jonno’s story highlights how the onset of Crohn’s disease can vary in individual people and how much time it can take in some cases to reach a definitive diagnosis

Levon Bakalian, designer of CCA’s special pendant (available here), talks about living with Crohn’s disease

Musician, song-writer, entertainer and comedian Luke Escombe, a CCA Ambassador, talks about living with Crohn’s Disease

Despite enduring some hard times, Meg Nicoll has put her experiences to good use by helping others on their IBD journey

Mel Ifield refused to give in to her illness, until her body told her otherwise. Here she writes about her relief after her decision to come out of “the bathroom”

A flare-up of Crohn’s disease threatened to thwart Michael’s annual Christmas display but a small army of volunteer elves stepped up to help

Najee takes us through his ordeal. He was relatively flare free until one day when that all changed.

While inflammatory bowel disease has disrupted Natalie Whelan’s life, she is determined to live each moment and improve awareness and empathy among other young adults

Nicole was diagnosed at 19 and talks about her journey and making everyday count towards happiness

Patricia felt as if her life were grinding to a halt, until she decided to get her life back on track, literally

It wasn’t the gift she had been wishing for, but Rebecca Thorpe has quickly managed to adapt to a new way of living with IBD

Being diagnosed with IBD can be a complicated process. Throw in a foreign language and the journey can take a few unexpected turns, as Queensland’s Renee Wickson discovered

IT took Savvas 10 years to come to terms with being diagnosed with IBD. Here he shares his experience living with Crohn’s disease as a young male and its impact on his personal & professional life

An International view on IBD –CANADIAN-born Scott Waterhouse shares his experiences about living with a chronic illness in another country

Like most 23-year-olds Stacey Sweedman was horrified to learn she would have to live with a ‘poo sack’. Then she got her life back

A large and  loving family has helped Susan Maye endure the lows of IBD. Here, Susan and sister Fionnuala share their experiences of living with IBD and helping a loved one with IBD

Memory champion Tansel Ali talks about how living with Crohn’s disease gave him a new perspective on life