A stranger saw my T-shirt and told me about her bowel movements
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As the crowd gathered at my local parkrun early one Saturday morning, I noticed a young woman making her way across the grass towards me. ‘I saw your T-shirt,’ she said, pointing at the Crohn’s & Colitis UK logo emblazoned across my chest. ‘I have Crohn’s. I’ve been up since 4am with a flare up, but nothing could stop me from coming here today.’.
![[Fiona Cumberpatch: I'm a parkrunner with IBD]](https://metro.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/SEI_233569916-a6a8-e1734454741201.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=646)
Impressed by her candour, I replied: ‘I just spent an hour trying to leave the house. But we made it!’. By the time we took our positions at the start line, we had shared diagnosis stories. Then the countdown began. ‘See you at the end for a selfie?’ she asked, as she disappeared into the throng. I put my thumbs up and my head into running mode.
![[Fiona Cumberpatch: I'm a parkrunner with IBD]](https://metro.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/SEI_233569816-2f82-e1734454854862.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=646)
Despite living with ulcerative colitis – a long-term inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) – I’m a regular at Rutland Water parkrun in the Midlands. It’s helped me find an inner strength to cope with a debilitating and sometimes painful condition, which can be managed but never cured.
![[Fiona Cumberpatch: I'm a parkrunner with IBD]](https://metro.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/SEI_233569907-6bec-e1734456010221.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=646)
I was 25 when I first noticed traces of blood after using the loo. I initially thought I had a stomach bug, but I went to my GP just to double check. That’s when my doctor fast-tracked me to a gastroenterology clinic at a big London hospital. After a grim shopping list of bowel tests – barium enema, sigmoidoscopy, and eventually, a colonoscopy (which thankfully takes place under sedation) – my diagnosis was confirmed in 1987.
![[Women running]](https://metro.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/GettyImages-2050013489-63e1.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=646)
