This June I will be completing my own My WALK IT Challenge, to raise money for Crohn's & Colitis UK. In December of 2020, I was diagnosed with Crohn's Disease after months of struggling with symptoms. In under 30 days I lost 4 stone as a result of my bowel being so inflamed and ulcerated that it had become paralysed and couldn't absorb nutrients. I was loosing so much blood to the point that my organs had begun to shut down. I was rushed to Southampton General Hospital at Christmas and was told that if nothing was done at that second I would die. Luckily from the work of doctors and nurses, and after weeks of intense steroid and immunosuppressant treatment I was stabilised and began my journey of being IBD fighter. Since then, I have been through a 5 month flare up that hasn't calmed down at all. I have had Crohn's Attacks, been rushed into hospital in an ambulance, have been unresponsive to treatments, was nil by mouth for 2 months by having external liquid feeds, have had hundreds of bloods taken, had a feeding tube and have had endless treatments and iron infusions. So far, My journey has been a pretty bumpy one, it has been difficult to say the least but I am on a mission to remission and wont stop until I reach it. Right now, over 500,000 people in the UK are living with a lifelong disease that many people have never heard of. And the real number could be almost double that. I am taking part in this event to raise funds and support Crohn's & Colitis UK to help improve diagnosis and treatment, fund research into a cure, raise awareness and to give people hope, comfort and confidence to live freer, fuller lives. I am also doing this in memory of one of my closet friends Gracie Marie Keeping who sadly passed away after a 3 year long battle with cancer in January of 2021 just 1 week after I was diagnosed with Crohn's Disease. Losing her at such a difficult time was painful for us all but her memory has been so important to me in keeping me strong.