Crohn’s disease is just one of many conditions that effect everyday life for sufferers, but can’t always be seen by others. Crohn’s disease is a type of inflammatory bowel disease that causes the intestines to become swollen. Another symptom of Crohn’s disease is the often urgent need to go to the toilet, something that can often be a problem for sufferers, particularly in a public place.
Toilet Signs
A Lincolnshire man, Kenneth Fraser-Rowe, is reaching out to retailers and supermarkets to try and change toilet signs on disabled toilets to show that not all disabilities are visible, as he believes sufferers shouldn’t have to face the embarrassment of explaining why they are using the facilities.
He explained: “I sometimes don’t want to go into disabled toilets in supermarkets because from first glance, people don’t think I have a disability. People with Crohn’s shouldn’t have to explain themselves or tell people why they need to use a disabled toilet.”
Kenneth reveals that living with a health condition such as Crohn’s disease, leaves sufferers with major anxiety over being refused access or be confronted for using a facility that they desperately needed.
Humiliation and Physical Agony
Kenneth has received a letter from Crohn’s and Colitis UK, supporting his movement, and providing him with the story of sufferer Charlotte Guinea. Who spoke of her “humiliation and physical agony” of being refused entry to a disabled facility as the security guard thought she didn’t “look sick”.
Dan Mclean from Crohn’s and Colitis UK stated: “They may not look unwell but are often profoundly affected by debilitating and unseen symptoms that affect all aspects of their lives.”
“They may not look unwell but are often profoundly affected by debilitating and unseen symptoms that affect all aspects of their lives.”
He continued: “The experience or fear of unpredictable incontinence is very undermining to a person’s confidence and self-esteem and can lead in some cases to the person affected becoming too anxious to leave their home.”
Parking Fine
In a similar story, a man in Lancashire, who suffers from Crohn’s disease, was given a £70 fine for using a disabled parking bay to make an emergency toilet stop.
Jordan Hayaee returned to his car minutes after stopping to find the warden was standing by his vehicle. After trying to explain the situation and the severity of his condition, the warden still issued a ticket as he wasn’t displaying a blue badge.
Jordan said: “I tried to explain that not every disability was visible and got into my car to show him my medication card, but he just repeated that I didn’t have a blue badge and started issuing a notice.”
Although Mr Hayaee admitted that the warden in question was just “doing his job”, he stated that as it quotes on the ticket, he was only in space for 2 minutes, and returned immediately to his car. He believes that in these situations that discretion should be allowed, as he has sometime being granted in the past.
These stories that have both appeared this week are evidence that perhaps more has to be one to promote the ideology that not all disabilities are visible.
